The Secrets of Carraigei
by EagleTsubasa
Summary: 6 years ago, the ruthless Team Gene marched through the unassuming village of Outsan in the Carraigei region, decimating it and killing all who stood in their way before vanishing without a trace, returning just as Misaki, a girl from the village, begins her Pokémon journey. Can she her friends discover why Team Gene are searching for Mewtwo and the legendary Temples of Provenance?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: My Partner

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

The World of Pokémon is a vast and mysterious place filled with strange people and even stranger creatures. These creatures are known as Pokémon. These Pokémon are sometimes kept as pets and others train them as their valuable partners who stand beside them in battle.

However, no part of this strange and wonderful world is as mysterious as the little-known region of Carraigei. This region holds many untold secrets within its many mountainous regions and rocky borders that make navigating the region off-road extremely difficult which is exactly why many humans are so enticed by it.

Together with their Pokémon partners, many a human trainer have dedicated themselves to traveling all over the region, finding as many of these powerful creatures as they can, befriending them and fighting alongside them in order to take on the ultimate challenge.

The League challenge.

It is in this rugged region that our story begins. In one of the most fertile areas of the region lies the quiet village of Outsan, bordered by mountains and lush forests that are inhabited by many Pokémon. In this quiet village lived a 10 year old girl – the heroine of our story.

"I'm so glad we get to catch our own Pokémon here. I don't have to rush," a young redhead sighed happily.

A pleasant breeze blew past her, the sweet scent of flowers reaching her nose as she walked up the dirt path to a large white building. A Magikarp water feature trickled gently with a pleasant sound as the sunlight filtered through the trees that lined either side of the path to the building, the wind making gentle rustling noises as it passed by the leaves. All in all, it was a wonderful day – a perfect day to start a journey.

As she walked, the young girl thought of the stories that she had heard of the other regions in which trainers chose their starter Pokémon from a group of three Pokémon which differed depending on the region. However, the region of Carraigei did not have starter Pokémon like the other regions. Instead, it was tradition to head into the nearest area that was inhabited by Pokémon and the new trainer would then catch their own partner. It was believed that the trainer and Pokémon would have a much stronger bond that way.

As the young girl stepped into the massive building, she was greeted by a happy voice.

"Klef! Klefki!" something to her right cried happily with a slight metallic clinking sound.

Turning to the noise, the 10 year old saw a small Pokémon in the shape of a set of keys that appeared to smile brightly at her. She grinned as she caught sight of the levitating set of keys and waved.

"Hey, Klefki! How are you doing?"

"Klefki!"

"Hey there, Misaki! Welcome to the lab! You haven't been around in a while!" The girl – Misaki – turned to the gentle voice to see a tall woman with long light brown hair, chocolate brown eyes and a pair of black rectangular glasses. She wore a pristine white lab coat over a jade green top and a dark brown formfitting skirt that reached her knees. Her shiny black high heel shoes clicked on the floor as she made her way over to the young redhead with a clipboard in one hand. "I suppose you're here for your supplies."

"Hi, Professor Hawthorn! I've been preparing for this for days! I'm ready!" Misaki stated with an air of determination, clenching her fist and bringing them up in front of her chest in something reminiscent of a fighting stance, the fire in her eyes showing her sheer resolve.

"Haha! I'm sure you are!" the professor chuckled. "Follow me!"

Misaki nodded, tugging slightly at the cerulean blue sweatband around her head before looking down at her equally blue sleeveless shirt and her blue and white trousers and trainers as if making sure that she was at least somewhat presentable.

After shifting the white bag on her back, she then followed the professor through the lab. They passed through the maze of hallways that were constantly filled with the sounds of typing or beeping noises from the computers or other machinery and the sounds of murmuring from the scientists who were too engrossed in their work to pay them any attention, often pausing slightly to say hello to the few scientists and assistants that they met in the whitewashed hallways with black-tiled floors.

They soon entered what appeared to be a small office. It was rather simple with pale green walls, a faded jade green carpet and a sturdy wooden desk with an expensive-looking laptop and a small brown cardboard box in one corner. The window was open and the curtains were gently swept up in the wind. As Professor Hawthorn shut the door, the noises of the lab were shut out and Misaki became aware of how pleasantly cool and quiet the little office was.

"I've been keeping these for you for over a month," she told Misaki as she picked up the cardboard box and placed it on the desk. Opening it, Misaki peered inside and was greeted by the sight of 6 red and white balls and some sort of machine.

"These are your Poké Balls," the professor told the girl, holding up one of the balls. "You will use these to catch and befriend Pokémon, and this…" she trailed off, picking up the machine.

"Is a Pokédex, right? It tells me all about the Pokémon I see or catch," Misaki smiled, hopeful that she had got it right.

"Correct! I can only tell you good luck, now!" Professor Hawthorn smiled as Misaki attached the Poké Balls to her loose black belt that hung high on her hip on the right side but hung below her waist on the left. "You should hurry. Otherwise, you'll never catch up to Fintan," the professor winked playfully.

"Fintan's been here?! Why didn't you tell me?! Catch you later, Professor Hawthorn!" Misaki cried out as she ran through the door, Pokédex in hand.

Eventually, after navigating her way through the maze-like laboratory, she ran past a very confused Klefki and was back on the dirt road, heading towards the forest, passing by the few houses, farms and the small, yet bustling, marketplace which belonged to the village on her way there.

"I can't lose to Fintan! I promised him I wouldn't!" Misaki growled out, tugging her sweatband and narrowing her eyes in resolution.

There was no time to lose as she sprinted into the forest, the sunlight playing across her pale skin as she moved, momentarily pausing to catch her breath, taking little notice of the bright green foliage and the beautiful and sweet-smelling flowers that dotted the path around her. The terrain was rather rocky, allowing for the accommodation of all kinds of Pokémon.

"Alright… Where do I find a Pokémon around here…? Do I call for one…? It's worth a shot…" Just as she drew in a breath to shout, a voice spoke behind her.

"You won't find a Pokémon that way," it chuckled. Misaki turned around to come face to face with a young man around the same age as her with a mop of brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a jade green t-shirt, light brown trousers and brown and green trainers. A yellow bag was slung over his shoulder.

"Fintan! If you're here, you must have already caught your Pokémon!" Misaki presumed, noticing his proximity to the village.

"Yep! You must have just got here!" he smirked playfully, holding up a Poké Ball in one hand. "I'll show you my Pokémon after you get yours!"

"Aww… No fair…" Misaki complained.

"Go on. The Pokémon won't show up here. They live farther away from the village," Fintan told her, his face becoming serious as he pointed further into the forest.

"Alright! I'll catch mine faster than you caught yours and I'll win our battle!" Misaki grinned, refusing to back down. Fintan watched as she sped off, shaking his head in exasperation at his friend's antics.

Misaki was not the most careful of people, so, as she ran further into the forest, keeping her eyes in front of her, she ended up in trouble, which was absolutely no surprise to either her or, as the case would end up, the young creature that fell from a tree and landed on her head.

"Ow!" she cried out as something hard landed on the top of her head and knocked her over.

"See!" the tiny creature cried out in alarm as it collided with her before sliding off her head and falling onto the ground.

Misaki sat up rubbing the bump that she had received to her head before turning to look at what had exactly caused the injury. She was greeted by the sight of a small Pokémon that stood before her.

"What are you…?" she asked herself more than the creature, pulling out her red Pokédex. After pointing it at the Pokémon, the top of the device slid up to reveal a screen. A female voice came from the machine.

"Seedot, the Acorn Pokémon. Seedot resembles an acorn when hanging by its head from branches. It jumps down suddenly to the surprise of passersby."

"A Seedot, huh? Did you lose your grip on the branch?" she asked it nicely in order to avoid scaring it, marvelling at how it appeared to look exactly like a giant acorn with little feet and big adorable eyes.

"See…" It looked down in shame.

"Hey, I'm not mad. I'm clumsy, too. Are you alright?" she asked with a worried frown. Before Seedot could respond, a sound like buzzing reached their ears. "What is that? It sounds like…"

"Seedot!" the Pokémon yelled in a panic. Then, it his Misaki and she screamed out the word that every young trainer yells at some point during their journey.

"BEEDRILL!"

Needless to say, after scooping up the tiny Pokémon, the girl had never run so hard before in her life, paying little attention to the rocky terrain as it passed by her at high speed. It wasn't until they actually reached the sheer cliffs which made up part of the base of the mountain that Misaki realised where she had been heading and mentally slapped herself for it.

Turning around, she saw that it was already too late to run. The Pokémon attempted to push itself further into her chest in an attempt to escape the Beedrill. All was silent aside from the angry buzzing of the Pokémon in front of the human and Pokémon.

"Get behind me, Seedot…" Misaki finally told the acorn-like creature in a quiet, determined voice.

"Seed?" it asked worriedly as she turned her back to the Beedrill and placed it on the ground.

"If we can't escape them… I'll protect us both… I'm a trainer, so all I have to do is…" She tugged at her sweatband again – an action that she was in the habit of doing when she became determined – and turned to face the Beedrill, counting them. There were five. She smirked. "All I gotta do is… catch 'em all!"

She pulled out one of her Poké Ball – for once glad that they weren't one-use – and took something akin to a fighting stance. The Beedrill raised their stingers and one raced forward as if leading the charge, the others following shortly after. Misaki threw the ball at the Beedrill and, with a flash of light, it disappeared inside before closing. The other Beedrill pulled back as if confused and watched as their leader began to attempt to escape from its prison as the ball began to shake. Misaki gritted her teeth and watched the Poké Ball.

_Whoosh!_

Cursing inwardly at her bad luck, she caught the Poké Ball as it flew back to her hand. The Beedrill shook its head quickly as if it was in a daze before making an angry-sounding noise that sounded like clicking mandibles. The insects surged forward again, needles at the ready.

Before Misaki could throw another Poké Ball, Seedot suddenly ran out in front of her, crying out to attract the attention of the Beedrill. Misaki looked down at it in alarm as the Beedrill changed their trajectory.

"Seedot! What are you doing?!" she yelled. Her eyes widened suddenly as the small Pokémon suddenly appeared to become shinier before her eyes. "Harden…? What will Harden do…?"

As the Beedrill got closer, it suddenly became shrouded in a bright light. The Beedrill began to attack it angrily and repeatedly with the spears on their arms. Misaki could only watch as the Beedrill brought down blow upon blow on the tiny acorn-like creature.

'_That's Fury Attack! What's wrong with Seedot, though?!'_ Misaki thought, eyes narrowing in confusion.

Suddenly, Seedot emitted a harsh light and the Beedrill were all knocked back with terrified hisses. The Beedrill stood up before taking to the air again. Covered in dirt, the insects took another look at the Seedot. It was evident that they had been badly injured by the attack. The leader began to back off and the rest soon followed, knowing exactly what move had been used and that attacking Seedot would only get them injured again.

Misaki stood there in a daze, wondering what she had just seen. That bright light that gained intensity as Seedot was attacked could only have been one thing. She grinned brightly as she recognised the attack.

"That was Bide, wasn't it?!" she cheered happily. Seedot turned around, seemingly smiling.

"Seed! Seedot!"

"That's really awesome, Seedot! Hey, you're hurt!" Changing the topic completely, she got down beside the acorn-like Pokémon, examining the injuries that it received from the Beedrill. "Those Beedrill really got you…" she mumbled, placing her Pokéball on her belt and letting the bag slip from her shoulders before searching in it. Seedot watched as she pulled out one of the many supplies that she brought along for her journey – a small spray bottle. "This will sting a little, Seedot, but you'll feel a lot better afterwards, OK?" she smiled reassuringly.

Seedot stared at the bottle before walking closer and allowing her to spray its contents into its wounds. It attempted to put on a brave face as the liquid stung it slightly, but it still couldn't help wincing slightly.

"It's alright," Misaki soothed. "It's called a Potion. It heals wounds."

Soon, Seedot saw the truth in her words as the stinging lessened and the wounds closed. As she pulled away from it, it shook its head quickly to perk itself up and appeared to beam at the redhead in front of it.

"That feels good, doesn't it?" she asked it.

"Seedot! Seed…" It trailed off as it began to stare.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Misaki frowned.

"Seed!" It gestured to one of the balls around her waist with a confused glance at her face.

"These? Have you never seen one?" Seedot shook its head as she removed one from her belt. "These are called Poké Balls. You see, I'm going to be a trainer. Trainers train Pokémon to make them stronger and fight alongside them and the Pokémon that travel with us live in these balls," she informed it.

Seedot continued to stare at the ball. Seconds passed before it made a move. A look of resolution crossed its features and it nudged the ball in Misaki's hand before looking her in the eyes. Misaki stared back.

"You want to go with me…? Why…?" she asked with an astonished tone.

"Seed, seed!" it exclaimed gesturing towards the space where the Beedrill had once hovered before turning around and gesturing to the Poké Ball. Seedot stared at her, hoping that she would understand.

"Because I tried to protect you…?"

Seedot nodded furiously. After a few seconds, a bright smile crossed Misaki's features. Picking up the small Pokémon, she stood up and looked into its large eyes. Taking a Poké Ball off her belt, she held it up. Seedot watched the ball that gleamed as the light that peeked through the trees hit it, never taking its eyes off it for a second as it quivered in excitement.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked with a serious tone. Seedot nodded again. "Alright, then!" She brought the Poké Ball towards Seedot's head. She could only laugh when, instead of waiting for her to touch it with the Poké Ball, Seedot became impatient and dove towards the capsule, being sucked inside with a red light and a whooshing noise. The ball shook several times.

_Ping._

It took a few seconds for Misaki to comprehend what had just happened to her but, when it did, the redhead burst out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter having been unable to control her excitement. She managed to calm herself down and looked down at the Poké Ball in her hand, its red surface glinting in the sunlight.

"I did it… I just caught my first Pokémon!" she exclaimed excitedly. She smirked and threw the Poké Ball. "Come on out, Seedot!" With a whoosh, Seedot appeared in front of her and the ball flew back to her hand.

"Seedot!" it cheered happily.

"I know this is a little sudden, Seedot, but I promised a battle to my friend. Would you help me? Please?" Misaki almost begged. Seedot nodded enthusiastically.

"Seed! Seedot!"

"Thanks, Seedot!" she cried cheerfully. "Let's go. It'll take a while to get back."

Seedot hopped into her arms and the two set off at a slow pace. However, little did trainer and Pokémon know, they were being watched as they walked back to the village of Outsan. Two figures watched them from the trees, both dressed in black and covered by the shadows.

"Maybe accidentally startling those Beedrill was a good thing after all," a man smirked, adjusting his peaked hat.

"Yes. Look at the power behind that Bide. Plus, it seems that this little girl doesn't quite understand how rare a Seedot is or how powerful it can be when it evolves," a woman responded.

"Yes, but it's luckily just a little Seedot right now and it's in the hands of a rookie trainer, no less… We could always just capture it…"

"You're right… A powerful Pokémon would further our cause… We'd just need to train it…"

"For the glory of Team Gene…"

Out of the darkness glinted a small badge on their peaked hats as the sun fell on them before disappearing into the darkness again as a cloud passed over the blazing orb in the sky. It was a small symbol in the shape of a strand of golden DNA.

The symbol of their organisation.

The symbol of Team Gene…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: First Battle

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

It was a while before Misaki got home. She could only laugh as she watched the Seedot in her arms look around at everything in absolute awe, having never been in any kind of human settlement in its life.

"This is where I live, Seedot. We're coming back here for a while have that battle that I told you about. Then, we're going to take the Gym Challenge," she informed it.

"Seed?" it asked in confusion, obviously wondering what the Gym Challenge was.

"You see, it's my dream to reach the Pokémon League and to beat the Champion along with my Pokémon partners and the only way to do that is to travel, become friends with more Pokémon, train hard and to take the Gym Challenge.

"You see, in seven locations all over the Carraigei region, there are seven buildings known as Gyms where a person called a Gym Leader battles trainers and their Pokémon. These Gym Leaders are some of the strongest people in the region and, if we beat them, we'll get a badge from them. Once we get all seven badges, we can challenge the Elite Four who are even stronger than the Gym Leaders and, if we beat them, we can battle the Pokémon League Champion who is the strongest trainer in the entire region! Even explaining it makes me so excited!" she cheered enthusiastically.

"Seedot!" it smiled happily, excited that it was going to travel all over the region. After all, it had never been out of the forest before, so all of this news was very new and seemed thrilling to it.

"I'm going to take you to meet my friend and rival. His name is Fintan. You'll like him. He's like a big brother to me," she told Seedot. "He's the one we're going to battle. He just got his Pokémon today, too, so I don't know what we're up against. You see, in this region, new trainers all go out on the same day of the year to catch their Pokémon. It promotes equality, they say." She shrugged, not really caring about the reasoning behind it. "Oh! We're here!" she exclaimed as she suddenly realised that they had reached a rather small house.

The house in question was surrounded by a large field filled with grazing Mareep, Flaaffy and Miltank. Two Herdier and a Stoutland slept in the field with two Lillipup curled up beside the Herdier, their little chests rising and falling rhythmically, currently unneeded by their trainers and completely content with the warm sun on their backs as they slept peacefully.

Misaki's eyes landed on a young man in the field who wore a straw hat to keep the sun off of him, a tartan shirt with the sleeves rolled up revealing the large muscles on his arms from years of work, blue denim overalls, a pair of thick black gloves and a pair of wellies. The redhead waved at him to catch his attention with a bright smile on her face. He turned and wiped the sweat off his brow before waving back with a grin. Placing his watering can beside the crops that needed to be watered, he walked over to her and leaned on the fence.

"Fintan! I got my Pokémon! Meet Seedot!" she grinned happily. Fintan chuckled.

"I suppose I owe you a battle, right?"

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until tomorrow? I mean, you just caught your Pokémon and then your parents put you to work on the field. Aren't you tired?" Misaki asked with a frown.

"Nah. I'm fine. I'm used to this. You didn't keep me waiting long, either," he told her with a calm smile.

Misaki couldn't help but smile back at the boy that she thought of as a brother. Suddenly, Fintan made something incredibly obvious. Something that she did not like to be made obvious. Taking off his glove, he reached out and ruffled her hair as if she was a child with a grin on his face.

She was short and she did not like to be told or reminded that she was short. Glaring at him, she swiped at his arm like a grumpy cat. She was at least 5 inches shorter than she probably should have been and she didn't like to be reminded about it.

"I'm not short…" she mumbled.

"Of course you aren't," he teased.

"Let's just get this over with…" she sighed irritably.

"Alright. Let me just get my Pokémon."

He turned around and Misaki watched as he raised his fingers to his mouth before emitting a loud, shrill whistle. A bark could be heard from the other side of the house and a small dog-like Pokémon shot into view with an excited look on its face.

As it got closer, Misaki was able to make out the Pokémon's black fur and reddish muzzle and underbelly with protruding fangs. A short tail wagged furiously behind it and she could see the rib-like ridges on its back, a skull on its head and white bands around its legs just above its paws.

As it reached Fintan, it got up on its back legs and placed its paws on his legs as it reached up to lick his hand with a delighted bark. Misaki watched in fascination before pulling out her Pokédex to see what the Pokémon was.

"Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. Houndour travel in packs and communicate though barks in order to surround their prey," the Pokédex told her.

"Houndour, huh?" she mumbled as Seedot dropped down from her arms and went over to greet Houndour.

"Yeah. This is Houndour. He'll be your opponent today," Fintan informed her.

"It's incredible…" she whispered as she stared at the Pokémon that was making conversation with Seedot.

"I know. He's a friendly little guy. It seems that Seedot is the same way. You picked a good Pokémon."

Misaki laughed. "I didn't pick him! He picked me!"

"Is that so…?" he responded, muttering what might as well have been his catchphrase as if deep in thought as he began to walk over to the wooden gate and opened it, letting Houndour out as well before shutting it behind him with a quiet creak, careful not to let any of the farm Pokémon escape.

"So, when do we battle…?" Misaki asked him, cocking her head to the side slightly.

"Right now," smirked Fintan. "There's room here, isn't there?"

Misaki looked around. Surely enough, there was enough space in the sprawling green field behind the farm. An almost identical smirk crossed Misaki's features as she realised this and she tugged at her headband in determination.

"Alright!" she yelled as she ran for the field with Fintan following closely behind her. Seedot toddled along behind them with Houndour close beside it.

"Are you ready?" Fintan asked after they had taken their sides.

"Just one second!" Misaki called back as she pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it at Seedot to check its moves. The Pokédex activated in its usual manner and Misaki noticed an option on the screen that was titled 'Check Moves and Abilities.' After tapping the holographic screen, a list came up that detailed the moves of Seedot and its Ability along with information on each move. A female voice came from the Pokédex.

"Seedot's moves are Bide, Harden and Bullet Seed. Its Ability is Chlorophyll," it said.

Having learned what she needed to know, she shut the Pokédex and made a move to put it away before glancing up at Fintan who was just putting away his own, having decided to check the moves and the Ability of his Pokémon, too. Apparently, neither had heard the list of moves or the Ability of the other trainer's Pokémon.

"I'm ready!" Misaki smiled.

Fintan gave her a thumbs-up as the two Pokémon took their positions on either side of the field, muscles tensed and awaiting their orders. Houndour let out a growl of excitement and Seedot was quivering in anticipation.

"You take the first move!" Fintan told her.

"Alright! Seedot, use Harden! Then, use Bullet Seed!" Misaki ordered. She figured that there was no harm in improving Seedot's Defence before making a move.

"Seed!" Seedot appeared to become shinier as if it had been polished before rushing forward at a speed that Misaki had originally thought impossible for the tiny Pokémon. It suddenly occurred to her that it must have been due to its Chlorophyll Ability which must not have been in effect under the trees in the forest. That, or Seedot hadn't been moving around enough for her to figure out whether the ability was in effect in the shade. That would be an experiment for later.

Slightly taken aback as Seedot spat out the seeds at high speed, Fintan gave out a rushed command. Vaguely coming to the conclusion that Houndour couldn't dodge such speed, he decided to head for a more direct approach.

"Use Ember, Houndour!" he called out.

"Arf!" Houndour barked before rushing at Seedot's Bullet Seed.

Opening its mouth, Houndour let loose a barrage of flaming embers on the seeds. The attacks collided in mid-air, causing an explosion which threw back both Pokémon. The trainers and Pokémon waited for the dust cloud to settle before making another move.

"Houndour! Use Fire Fang!" Fintan ordered as soon as the battlefield cleared. Houndour charged forward, opening its mouth to reveal a pair of flaming fangs.

"Use Bide, Seedot!" Misaki called, seeing that Houndour was too close to avoid, even with the heightened Speed stats that Seedot currently possessed.

Just before the attack hit, Seedot began to glow. Then, Houndour bit down. Misaki could tell that the attack was super effective from the way that poor Seedot winced in pain. However, thanks to the Harden that Seedot used previously in the battle, it was able to hang in there.

"Houndour! That's Bide! Get away from it!" Fintan yelled in a panicked tone.

Houndour let go and nodded, the fire in its fangs dying down. Repositioning itself, it pushed away from the ground in order to gain some distance just as the light reached the peak of its intensity. Giving off a massive wave of power, Houndour was brushed by the attack and thrown into the air from the massive damage.

"Right yourself and use Ember!" was the next command as Fintan saw an opening.

Shifting in mid-air, Houndour opened its mouth to rain down burning hot embers onto the tiny acorn-like creature. Misaki gritted her teeth, hoping that Seedot had the speed to get out of the way of the attack.

"Dodge it!" ordered Misaki.

Seedot moved to dodge it, but didn't notice a jagged stone on the ground beside its little foot and it tripped. The embers collided with the Pokémon, causing an explosion. After a few nerve-wracking seconds, the smoke cleared, revealing Seedot lying on the ground having obviously fainted from the super effective attack.

"Aww… We lost…" Misaki grumbled as she got down beside Seedot and scooped it up into her arms.

"That was a good match. You know what you're doing," Fintan smiled as he walked over to them with Houndour at his heels.

"I can't believe Seedot tripped…" Hearing a chuckle from Fintan, she looked up. "Wait… You planned that?!" she exclaimed, recognising the cheeky yet knowing grin on his face.

"Think about it – which way was Ember aimed?" Fintan asked her.

"Slightly… to the left…" Misaki came to the realisation.

"I did what I do almost every day. I herd Pokémon. I knew that Seedot wasn't going to be watching the terrain. It would be too busy trying to dodge, so I gave it a nudge in the direction I wanted it to move. In other words, I knew it was going to trip," he winked.

Misaki was speechless. She couldn't believe that Fintan had fought that far ahead. She looked down in surprise as Seedot stirred in her arms and smiled as the Pokémon squeaked at her with a tired voice.

"See… dot…"

"It's alright, Seedot. You did a good job. We can just win the next one," she told it softly.

"Let me heal it," Fintan requested as he knelt down beside her, pulling a Potion out of the large pocket in his overalls. He began to spray Seedot with the medicine.

"Thanks, Fintan. We'll be heading out soon," she informed him, brushing a strand of orange hair out of her eyes.

"Where are you going first?" he inquired.

Misaki stopped to think for a moment. It was true that there were two roads that could be used to exit the village – one on either side – and they led to two entirely different towns with two very different Gyms.

"Might I make a suggestion?" Fintan asked sheepishly. Misaki looked at him with an air of curiosity as Fintan ran to the side of his house where he had left his bag of supplies to be taken on his journey where he had thrown it down when he had returned to his house. He fished about for a few minutes before returning and kneeling down beside her and spreading the map out on the ground.

"This," he pointed to the map, "is Aquarian Town. You should go here first. The Gym is perfect for you."

"Aquarian Town? You mean that little port town?" Misaki had heard of it, but had never been there. Even though it was a small town, it had the largest fishing fleet in the entire region and a lot of anglers often went there to catch a few Pokémon just off the shore of the region.

"Yes. There's a Gym there. I have to stay here for a while longer to finish helping Mum and Dad, but I'll follow you soon. Take the map with you, too. I have another one and was asked to give you this one."

"Really? I can? That's great! I'm just going to get something from my room and then I'll head out!" she told him before getting up with Seedot still in her arms having been healed with the Potion, taking the map with her which Fintan folded up for her. She placed it in her pocket.

"I'll see you soon, then!"

"Uh huh! See ya!"

Misaki waved as she headed up to the house, moving at a slight jogging pace. She ran around the front and opened the door, heading upstairs. On the stairs, she heard the sound of someone walking out of the room across the hall from the stairs – the kitchen.

"Misaki! I was watching you two battle from the window!" the feminine voice spoke.

Misaki backed up on the stairs to see a woman standing beside the stairs, looking up at her as she leaned over the banister with a gentle smile on her face, her face wrinkling slightly and her grey eyes twinkling with years of experience. She pushed a strand of her slightly-greying wavy blonde hair behind her ear as Misaki descended the stairs again.

"I didn't do very well, Shelby." Misaki scratched the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly.

"Not well? You did very well! You must be heading out soon. It was so nice having a little girl in the house…" she sighed sadly.

"I'll still call you!" Misaki pouted before laughing merrily. "Thanks for looking after me, Shelby… You're just like a mother to me…" She trailed off. Shelby placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You're just like a daughter to me, too. Your mother and father would be proud of you…" she told her encouragingly, yet not without a small sigh as she looked from Misaki to Seedot as it jumped out of her arms. Without warning, Misaki threw her arms around the older woman.

"I'll make sure Fintan doesn't get up to anything, either!" she declared, attempting to avoid the topic of her parents.

"Haha! I'm sure you will! Keep checking up on him and make sure to say goodbye to Digby if you see him on the way to the next town!" she reminded her. "My husband will want to say goodbye to you. We've both been very fond of you ever since your mother first brought you over here when you were born!"

"I'll say goodbye to Digby if I see him," she promised.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting. Run on ahead and get what you need," Shelby smiled. Misaki nodded happily and began to run up the stairs. "Oh, and have fun while you travel!"

"I will!" Misaki called back as she headed to her room, running her hand along the smooth, polished wooden banister as she climbed the light brown-carpeted stairs before entering into the short cream-coloured and brown-carpeted hallway which led to the three bedrooms and a bathroom that comprised the upper level of the house.

Taking the second door on the left, Misaki opened the simple and heavy wooden door into the room and walked inside. The room was simple with a small wooden bed in the corner, a sturdy wooden desk with a simple lamp and a photo frame with an old photo in it, one window, a brown carpet and cream-coloured walls, much the same as the rest of the house.

Misaki walked over to the desk, picked up the photo and, dropping her bag, sat down on the bed. Seedot hopped up onto the bed beside her to see what she was looking at. Misaki moved so that the little Pokémon could see the photo in the simple metal frame.

"These were my parents, Seedot," she told it, pointing to the two adults in the photo.

The brown-haired, brown-eyed man was holding a little redheaded girl with grey eyes of about 3 years of age and the equally redheaded woman with grey eyes had her hands on the shoulders of an older brown-haired boy who appeared to be about 9-10 years old and was practically a clone of the older man. All of them were looking straight ahead with bright smiles on their faces. The little girl was waving at the camera happily, clinging into her father's neck with her other arm. They all stood in front of an old fireplace, the fire burning brightly in the grate.

"That's my brother and me, too. They aren't around anymore, so I live here now," she attempted to explain. "They were all killed when I was little…" she trailed off, unable to continue as a lump grew in her throat and her eyes began to water. She quickly wiped them and stuffed the photo into her bag. "I didn't want to take this with me if I didn't have a Pokémon in case something happened to it, but it's fine, now."

Misaki looked down at Seedot who was looking at her with a worried expression. "It's alright, Seedot!" she exclaimed, attempting to change the topic to something more light-hearted. "I've got food with me, clothes and a sleeping bag… We're all set! Let's move out!" She pumped her fist into the air excitedly as Seedot hopped off the bed and nodded, running for the door.

"Seed! Seedot!" the acorn-like creature beamed, excited to get going and see what the world was like outside its forest.

Misaki chuckled and let it run down the hall in front of her and then watched as it toddled down the stairs and stood in front of the front door, waiting for Misaki to open it. Reaching it, Misaki turned the knob and let Seedot escape from the house and wait on the path.

"Shelby! I'm heading out!" she called. Shelby appeared in the kitchen doorway, drying her hands on a towel.

"Have fun and come home if you need anything! Don't forget to call, too!" she smiled happily.

"I will! I'll call when I get to Aquarei Town!" she promised.

"I'll look forward to it! Do your best! Bye!"

"Bye, Shelby!" Misaki waved and walked out, closing the door behind her.

Joining Seedot on the path, she walked out onto the main road, facing East before looking down at Seedot with a determined smile. Seedot stared up at her patiently with a happy expression on its face.

"Alright, Seedot! Here we go! Let's do our best!"

"Seed!"

Seedot followed her as she made they began to walk in an attempt to make their way out of the town and to begin their journey. Their next stop was the beautiful, warm seaside and the town of Aquarei.

_Elsewhere…_

"Do you understand the plan?" asked a woman as she turned to the man beside her. They had travelled all day and made it further into the forest, coming up with a plan that would take place in an area of the forest that the girl and her Pokémon would have to travel through.

"Yes. Simple as it may be, it's more than enough for a rookie trainer," snickered the man.

"Perfect… Now, it's just a simple matter of waiting…"

"For the glory of Team Gene!" they chorused.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: New Friends

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Misaki woke up that morning with Seedot lying on her sleeping bag beside her. They had covered quite a bit of ground before the sun had completely set, making travelling through the dark forest nearly impossible with the rocky terrain making it too dangerous to move around recklessly in the darkness.

The sun was rising steadily into the sky as Misaki sat up so that she could stretch her arms, accidentally disturbing Seedot who sat up and shook its head, attempting to clear it. It stared at Misaki groggily as she stood up and opened her bag, pulling out a can.

"Would you like to try some Pokémon food?" she asked as she opened the tin and emptied some of the food into her hand before bending down to Seedot.

Seedot sniffed the food before quickly shaking its head in disgust. Misaki watched in confusion as the little Pokémon surveyed its surroundings before climbing up on a fallen log that it spotted nearby. It jumped, attaching the top of its head to a low-hanging branch. A small blush of satisfaction graced its cheeks as it appeared to smile happily.

"Is that how you eat, Seedot?" she asked as she saw the branch begin to shrivel slightly, figuring out that Seedot was sucking up the moisture from the branch.

"See!" it cheered happily as the thin branch broke off under its weight, its job done.

"That's so cool, Seedot! I didn't know that you could do that!" Seedot blushed, happy that it had been commented.

Just then, Misaki turned around at the sound of twigs snapping in the forest behind them. She paused and began to listen carefully, hoping to hear the sounds again in order to discern what they were.

"Did you hear that, Seedot?" she asked. Seedot nodded slowly.

The snapping twigs sounded closer. Misaki and Seedot tensed, preparing themselves for a battle. Suddenly, something burst out of the bushes at a high speed. It was fast. It was yelling. It was… human…

"Get out of the way!" the person screamed before tripping on a stone and slamming into Misaki, knocking her to the ground.

Misaki pushed the person off her and sat up, rubbing her head as another shape came out of the bushes. This time, it was in the shape of a floating ball – obviously a Pokémon. The Pokémon hovered around the person with a worried expression. Seedot squeaked in concern beside its trainer.

"Ow…" grumbled Misaki. "What was that about…?"

"Hey! Watch where you're standing!" bellowed her assailant – a young girl, Misaki noted. The girl's long black hair was pulled into a high ponytail, her hazel eyes flashing angrily. Dusting off her white sleeveless shirt and black trousers, she pulled herself to her feet, tightening the laces on her black and white trainers.

"What do you mean?! You were the one who ran into me!" Misaki protested.

"Only because you didn't move like I told you to!"

"Seed! Seed!" Seedot shouted angrily in protest.

Misaki attempted to get up, but let out a cry as pain flared up in her left leg. "S-Seedot… I think I twisted my ankle…" she stammered, pain evident in her tone as she gritted her teeth in discomfort.

"Whoa… Are you okay…?" the girl asked, bending down, slightly.

"No… No thanks to you…" Misaki muttered. She turned to Seedot. "Seedot. You know the way back to Outsan, right?" Seedot nodded. "Listen. I need you to go back and get Fintan. He's not that far behind us." Seedot, although worried, nodded dutifully and headed back into the forest.

"Do you need help?" the girl asked.

"No. My friend is coming. What the heck do you think you were doing?!" Misaki frowned.

"… I'm sorry… I get so stubborn until I realise that something I did hurt somebody… I'm so sorry…" she bowed in apology.

"That… didn't answer my question…" Misaki raised an eyebrow in slight confusion as the girl knelt down in front of her.

"I'm Tomoko and this," she gestured to the Pokémon, "is Solosis. We were making our way from Tundran Village to Aquarei Town to compete in the Pokémon Contest there…" she sighed. "We… got a little lost, though… We were told that we could get there through this forest and… I didn't have a map… The Contest starting tomorrow, too…" she trailed off.

"Solosis, huh...?" Misaki pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it at Solosis.

**"Solosis, the Cell Pokémon. A membrane filled with fluid surrounds Solosis's body which allows it to live anywhere. It defeats its enemies using its formidable Psychic-type powers."**

"Wait… You want to go to the Grand Festival…?" Misaki asked, hoping to get her facts straight as she put her Pokédex away. Tomoko's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Yes! It's been my dream!" she exclaimed happily.

"I'm going the same way, except I'm going there to challenge the Gym," Misaki informed her.

"Really? Maybe… If you're going that way, I mean… Can Solosis and I…?" she stammered, not quite knowing what to say. Misaki sighed.

"When my friend gets here… would you like to follow us to Aquarei Town…?" Misaki inquired, beating her to the point.

"… Really…?" she asked quietly.

"I wouldn't leave someone who needed help… That's just not me!" Misaki smirked.

"So… you forgive me, then?"

"Of course! It was an accident, right?" she beamed.

"Y-yeah! An accident! I didn't mean to!" Tomoko confirmed, her face lighting up.

Misaki sighed. "We can only wait until Fintan gets here to help, now…"

_Elsewhere…_

"I wonder how far Misaki has gotten, Houndour," Fintan mused as Houndour barked beside him in response.

As if in answer to his question, the bushes in front of him appeared to rustle. He paused as a small acorn-like creature pulled itself from the shrubs and cheered happily at the sight of him before running over to him.

"See! See!" it yelled in a panicked tone. Fintan bent down.

"Seedot…? What are you doing here…?" Suddenly, the answer seemed to hit him with the force of a bullet. "Did something happen to Misaki?!" he exclaimed. Seedot nodded wildly. "Can you take me to her?" Nodding again, Seedot turned around and ran over to the bushes, waiting until he stood up. "Come on, Houndour. We have to hurry…"

Fintan took off at a run with Houndour at his heels. There wasn't a moment to waste. If Misaki was injured, goodness knows what other kind of danger she was in. Keeping an eye on Seedot, he continued to run through the shrubs and trees, ignoring the branches that broke off and scratched him as he went.

It wasn't long until he reached them. It was maybe about 5 minutes, in fact. The two girls turned to stare at Seedot and Fintan as they burst into the clearing, panting heavily and wiping at a bleeding scratch on his cheek, just below his right eye. Houndour stood beside him, completely out of breath.

"Sorry, Fintan... I hurt my leg…" Misaki chuckled sheepishly.

"What happened?" Fintan asked as he moved over to her to inspect the injury.

"I… uh… tripped and fell! I twisted it, I think…" she trailed off, coming up with an excuse that would spare Tomoko his wrath which she had no doubt that he would unleash if he ever found out about the accident.

"It doesn't look too bad…" Fintan stated. "I just looks like it needs a little rest. Do you need me to carry you?"

"Nah. I'm fine. I can -" she attempted to get up and failed with a miserable, "Ow…"

Fintan sighed and bent down, letting Misaki crawl up on his back which she did without complaining, realising that she would never be able to walk all the way to Aquarei Town. Misaki quickly gestured to the black-haired girl who had stood up beside them before she forgot something.

"By the way… Fintan, meet Tomoko. Tomoko, this is my friend Fintan." She turned to Fintan. "Tomoko's going to Aquarei Town like us, except she got lost. She's coming with us," Misaki told him, leaving no room for argument.

"Alright, then. Nice to meet you, Tomoko. I…" He looked back and forward between the two girls and pointed in front of him. "… I suppose we're going this way, then…" he chuckled sheepishly, unsure of what to say to the new girl in their midst.

Tomoko nodded with a bright smile on her face, finally happy to be going somewhere. She turned to the cell-like Pokémon that floated beside her head. It smiled back at her, equally happy to be able to compete in the contest after all.

"Come on Solosis! We're going to make it!" she beamed, quickly following the boy and girl in front of her so that she wouldn't get left behind.

Misaki rested her head on Fintan's shoulder and sighed. As embarrassed as she was, she couldn't do anything else. There was nothing to do but to sit there and take it until Fintan got her to the Pokemon Center. Fintan turned to look at her with a look of concern.

"Are you alright? Am I hurting you?" He looked sad, almost as if he had done something wrong. Misaki sat up and smiled at him.

"No! Nothing's wrong!" she grinned. Then, her face fell and she reached out to wipe the blood away from the scratch underneath his eye. "It's just that... I'm being a burden... I've always been a burden..."

Fintan looked shocked. "A burden? Is that what you thought?" The 10 year old started to chuckle. "You've never been a burden... All these years looking after you..." He paused. "... Thanks... It's been fun..." he smiled.

Misaki couldn't believe what she was hearing. "... Fun...?" she asked incredulously.

Fintan's face grew dark. "... Ever since that day six years ago..." He paused. "... You've been like the little sister that I could never have... Thank you..." He smiled genuinely.

"Six years ago..." Misaki trailed off sadly. Fintan patted her right leg as if to comfort her before shifting her on his back to a more comfortable position.

"But, hey! Let's forget about that!" Fintan exclaimed cheerily.

Misaki turned back towards Tomoko. "So, when's the Pokemon Contest?" she inquired.

Having heard herself being addressed, Tomoko perked up and began to listen. "The Contest? Uh... It's two days from now."

"Two days? That gives you a day of practice when we get there," Fintan informed her. "We should get there later today. It's not too long, now."

"Really? A day of practice would be great! Right, Solosis?" The orb-like Pokémon nodded happily.

"Sol! Solosis!" it smiled.

"What do you do in a Pokémon Contest?" Fintan asked. Misaki nodded. She'd never actually seen a Contest. She wanted to know what they were, too. Tomoko began to explain.

"Pokémon Contests are events where Pokémon Trainers - or Pokémon Coordinators as we're called when we compete in Contests - show off their Pokémon. The Contest is divided into two rounds - the Appeals Round and the Battle Round. In the Appeals Round, the Pokémon Coordinator must show off the beauty and power of their Pokémon. Only the best performers can pass this stage. In the Battle Round, the Pokémon battle to defeat the Pokémon of other Coordinators who passed the Appeal Round in order to further show of their beauty and strength. The battle ends either when one Pokémon is defeated, when the opponent loses all of their points or when the time limit ends. When this happens, the person who lost the most points loses. Points are lost when a Pokémon is attacked or when the opponent pulls off a move that shows off their Pokémon particularly well. When you win, you're awarded with a Ribbon and those who gain five Ribbons can enter the Grand Festival. Those who win earn the title of Top Coordinator and get the Ribbon Cup."

"That sounds awesome!" Misaki grinned.

"I know, right? Why don't you come and watch?" Tomoko offered, jogging up beside Fintan and Misaki.

"I wouldn't miss it!" she declared.

"I'll drop you two off at the Pokémon Center," Fintan told them. "I have some training to do for the Gym battle."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. This'll be tough for you. You have a Fire-Type Pokémon and the Gym Leader uses Water-Types, right?" Misaki recalled.

"I know. That's why I'm hoping to catch another Pokémon or two. It's foolhardy to challenge a Gym with only one Pokémon, no matter what Type it is," he agreed.

"That's true. Type advantages are a big part of battling," Tomoko frowned. Fintan nodded in agreement before looking up.

"Oh! There's the Gym!" Fintan pointed above the trees. The others looked up, finally noticing the salty scent of the sea. Sure enough, the group could see the top of a large white dome. The sound of Wingull crying reached their ears along with a the sound of the sea. However, the group still could not see the town through the trees.

"We're nearly there!" Tomoko exclaimed.

"I can't wait to see the sea!" Misaki cheered excitedly.

Suddenly, Fintan paused. Something wasn't right. "Hey... Guys..." he began.

"Huh? Why did you stop?" Misaki frowned.

"Don't you feel like... we're being watched...?"

Everyone paused. A chill ran up Tomoko's spine. "You don't think that it's a Ghost-Type, do you...?" she asked uneasily.

Just as Misaki was about to tease her about being afraid of ghosts, a voice echoed from the trees. "Not exactly!" it called. It was distinctly female. Another voice joined it.

"Put your Pokémon back in their Poké Balls, put them on the ground and leave if you know what's good for you!" a male voice reverberated.

"Why would we ever do that?!" Tomoko yelled, her nerve having finally returned.

"Do you even know who you're talking to?!" they could almost hear the woman grinning as two black-clad figures descended from the trees. They both stood and the man adjusted his peaked hat.

"I'm Blair," the woman smirked. Her light brown hair fluttered slightly in the breeze. Chocolate brown eyes set in a beautifully pale face stared out at them, filled with mirth as she adjusted her black gloves.

"I'm Chad," the man told them with a sneer. The fringe of his straight black hair that reached the bottom of his neck covered one of his cold grey eyes.

"We're Team Gene and our boss would certainly like those Pokemon of ours to join our team," Blair announced.

"We're not giving you our Pokémon!" Fintan protested.

All Misaki could do was stare. There was something in the back of her mind telling her that something was very wrong with these people and not because they were trying to steal their Pokémon. There was something about them - about their uniform - that rang a bell in her mind. It reminded her of so many things and none of them were positive.

Fire. That was the main thing. Fire and screams. It was only for a second, but that was her rather puzzling conclusion. Shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of those thoughts, she focused on the problem at hand.

Blair and Chad had both raised their Poké Balls when she had not been paying attention. Blair threw her's first. "Go, Sandile!" she called.

"Come on out, Pawniard!" Chad shouted.

Both Poké Balls burst open with a whoosh and flashes of light. The lights took the forms of Pokémon almost immediately. The first Pokémon - Blair's Sandile - was a small sand-coloured crocodile-like creature with black ring-like markings, a black-tipped tail, black claws and a pink underbelly. Beady eyes stared at them menacingly.

The second Pokémon - Pawniard - was almost soldier-like in the way that it held itself. It was mostly crimson and grey with yellow eyes. A large blade protruded from its rounded forehead while another set jutted out from its chest like a set of steel ribs. It's arms ended with another set of blades as opposed to hands.

"Pawniard and Sandile... I've never seen those before..." Fintan muttered as he pulled out his Pokédex. It began to speak.

**"Sandile, the Desert Croc Pokémon. A dark membrane protects its eyes from the sun and it buries itself in the sand with its eyes and nose sticking out.**

**"Pawniard, the Sharp Blade Pokémon. Pawniard's entire body is made of blades which it uses to inflict damage on its opponents."**

As Fintan put his Pokédex away, Houndour and Seedot both stepped forward with Solosis floating beside them, all awaiting their commands. The Pokémon from Team Gene were the first to make a move. Blair held her hand out, gesturing towards the three opposing Pokémon.

"Sandile! Use Bite on Houndour!" Blair ordered.

"Use Scratch on Seedot, Pawniard!" Chad ordered.

Sandile's fangs began to glow and Pawniard raised it's arms, its blades glinting dangerously in the sunlight. Both Pokémon took off towards their enemies at a steady speed, Pawniard on two legs and Sandile on four.

Before they could reach their opponents, however, the trainers burst into action. "Houndour!" Fintan called. "Use Ember on Sandile! Stop it in its tracks!" Houndour released a spray of embers at the crocodile-like Pokémon. While taking damage, however, the Sandile kept moving forward before sinking its teeth into the back of Houndour's neck. "Houndour!" Fintan yelled in concern.

Meanwhile, Misaki was giving her orders to Seedot. "Seedot! Use Bullet Seed!" she declared.

Seedot nodded in agreement. "Seedot! Seed!" It suddenly launched a barrage of seeds from its mouth. Pawniard hesitated as the hard seeds began to cause it pain. It took a few steps back from the force of the attack, using its blade-tipped arms to shield itself.

Chad gritted his teeth. "Don't stop, Pawniard! Keep going! Use Leer!" he ordered. Opening its yellow eyes, it began to glare at Seedot, its eyes glowing red. Intimidated, Seedot halted its attack and took a few tottering steps back, a trail of sweat running down its face. "Now, use Scratch!" Pawniard launched itself forward again.

"Use Bide, Seedot!" Misaki yelled just before the attack landed. Hearing its trainer, Seedot calmed down enough to use the move and its body became cloaked in light as the Scratch attack hit Seedot. Seedot, however, stood its ground, refusing to move as the blades raked across its skin. It held back a cry of pain as the onslaught continued.

"That's alright! Seedot's Defence is lowered! We'll just take it out before it can use-" He paused and took on a panicked expression as the light shrouding Seedot began to grow harsher. "No! Get out of the way, Pawniard!"

It was too late. The searing white light grew, knocking Pawniard away. It hit the ground with a thud before attempting to get back up. "That's the way, Pawniard!" Chad cheered. "Get back up! We need to finish this!"

Tomoko, meanwhile, was noticing that Houndour was in trouble. It was trying desperately to throw off the Pokémon on its back while howling in pain as Sandile refused to relent. She held out her arm, ready to give a command.

"Solosis! Use Psywave!" The cell-like Pokémon let out a cry as it released a multi-coloured wave of psychic energy that shimmered through the air as it made a beeline for Sandile. It struck the sand-coloured Pokémon and knocked it off Houndour's back. The dog-like Pokémon gave itself a shake in an attempt to compose itself.

"Thanks, Tomoko! Thanks, Solosis!" Fintan gave them a thumbs up. He turned back to the battle as he heard Misaki give out another command just as Pawniard launched forward with another Scratch attack.

"Let's finish this off! Bullet Seed!" she ordered.

The heavily damaged Pokémon let out another barrage of seeds, knocking back the Pawniard once and for all. It landed on the ground with a dazed expression before falling unconscious. Misaki and Seedot turned away from the downed Pokémon as it was recalled, instead focusing on the stronger opponents - Blair and her Sandile.

"Sandile! Use Rage on Seedot! Keep going with it!" she ordered. Sure enough, the closest Pokémon to Sandile was Seedot. Still heavily damaged from Pawniard's onslaught, it tottered slightly, a trail of sweat trickling down its face.

Eyes becoming filled with rage, Sandile let out an awful anger-filled cry before throwing itself at Seedot, biting into it furiously. Seedot let out a cry of agony before falling unconscious almost immediately. Misaki gritted her teeth and held out her Poké Ball.

"Seedot! Return!" she called out. A flash of light escaped the red and white orb and Seedot was sucked inside. She stared at the Pokéball fondly. "You did a good job, Seedot. Take a nice long rest." Misaki looked at Fintan with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Fintan. It's up to up you and Tomoko, now."

"It's alright," Fintan told her, still glaring as Chad walked over to Blair, his head hung in rejection.

"Sorry, Blair. That Bide is too powerful..." he sighed. Blair smirked at him.

"Not exactly," she responded. "Bide is a move that uses the damage that the opponent causes and inflicts it on the opponent."

"So... my power defeated me...?" Chad asked, raising an eyebrow. Before she could answer, Blair's attention was pulled back to the battle as Tomoko and Fintan gave out commands.

"Solosis! Use Psywave!"

"Use Ember, Houndour!"

The two attacks combined, racing towards Sandile and the members of Team Gene. It was really a sight to behold. The shimmering Psywave was surrounded by the swirling embers which spiralled along the outside of the multi-coloured blast. The attacks hit Sandile, pushing it backwards into Team Gene with a shower of multi-coloured sparks that erupted like a firework, knocking Team Gene to the ground. Sandile lay on top of them, completely unconscious.

"We won!" cheered Tomoko excitedly as Blair slowly sat up, recalling Sandile. She helped Chad to stand, finding that the two Pokémon in front of them were now glaring at them angrily.

Suddenly, something burst through the trees. It was a black van or sorts and was being driven by another man in a Team Gene uniform. Blair and Chad seemed to be thanking their luck as they ran for the van. Fintan cursed inwardly.

"Oh, no you don't!" he yelled. "Use Ember, Houndour!" The attack hit the van just at the two Team Gene members closed the door behind them, sending up a cloud of dust. When it dispersed, the van was still standing. The van revved and set off into the forest and away from the town. There was no catching up with it now.

"It must have been armoured," Tomoko frowned. "An attack like Ember would never get through it."

Fintan angrily kicked at the ground before sighing in an attempt to compose himself. "Let's just get to town. We have to tell Officer Jenny about this," he decided.

Recalling his injured Houndour, Tomoko did the same and the group continued on their way with grave expressions, each member unwilling to speak as the atmosphere grew heavy with disappointment and confusion. Just who were Team Gene?

_Meanwhile..._

Chad cursed angrily and kicked the side of the van. "I can't believe that we were beaten by children..." he muttered.

"Calm down, Chad. We were outnumbered. That's all it was," Blair sighed irritably. She turned to the person driving with a confused expression. "Who did you know that we were in trouble?" she asked him.

"The tracking decided on you and your Pokémon, ma'am." He reached up to tap a monitor on the dashboard. It showed a map as well as various gauges. Blair supposed that they showed their ability to fight. The driver confirmed it. "They monitor the health of your Pokémon."

"Oh... Yes... The tracking devices..." she mused.

Chad continued to fume quietly behind her. "We need revenge..."

"We'll get it once our Pokémon are healed, so calm down!" Blair snapped. Shutting his mouth, Chad crossed his arms and remained silent. Blair turned back to the driver. "Step on it... We need to talk to the Boss..." she mumbled.

"Yes, ma'am!" The driver saluted formally and the van sped up as they headed further into the forest...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Fishing is Training

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Misaki woke up that morning to the sound of rattling. She sat up and took a look around the room she was in. It had simple yellow-painted walls with a jade green carpet. The wooden bunk bed that she was lying on had sheets to match the floor and a wooden desk stood in the corner. Seedot was already up and standing beside the only other two living things in the room. Shaking of the sleep, she tried to remember exactly where she was.

It suddenly struck her that she was in the Pokémon Center. Fintan had brought them there the day before after telling Officer Jenny about what happened at the police station. He had headed back into the forest in the hopes of training Houndour and possibly catching a Grass-Type Pokémon for his Gym battle.

Seedot turned around and squeaked as she tested her bandaged foot on the ground. She sighed in relief. It didn't hurt anymore. She'd put some ice on it the night before and it didn't hurt anymore after a good night's rest.

Tomoko turned around from what she was doing at the desk and smiled at Misaki as she got up from the bed. "Hey, Misaki. Is your leg feeling any better?" she asked.

"Good morning! It feels great! I just needed a rest!" Misaki cheered.

"Awesome! I was just working on my Seals!" Tomoko informed her as she held up a kind of clear plastic orb with a bluish tint to it. There were some stickers lying on the desk that she began to pick up as Misaki approached.

"Seals?" Misaki asked with a hint of confusion as Solosis and Seedot began to play with Seedot chasing Solosis around the room.

"Yeah. They're a kind of sticker that you attach to these Ball Capsules and the Poké Ball goes inside the Capsule. I use them for Contests. When you release a Pokémon when Seals are attached, it creates a special effect that can be used to show off the Pokémon that comes out," Tomoko explained.

"Wow! That sounds so cool! Will you show it to me later?" Misaki pleaded.

"Sure! I was going down to the beach later to give our performance another practice before the Concert. Then, we're going to take the rest of the day off."

"Well, working too hard isn't a good idea. I'm planning to train for a while today, too. Maybe they rent out rods at the beach..." Tomoko could tell that this was quickly going off topic.

"Rods? Aren't you going to train?" Misaki took on a serious expression.

"Fishing _is_ training," was her blunt answer.

"Uh... Alright..." Tomoko frowned. She looked back at her Seals, sticking the last one onto her Ball Capsule. "Well, I'm off to the beach after breakfast. Coming?"

"Me? Miss breakfast?" Misaki snorted in laughter as she headed for the door.

Tomoko smirked to herself. _'So, that's the kind of person she is...'_ she thought.

A few hours later...

Misaki sat on a rock with Seedot sitting beside her. A rod was held tightly in her hands, the lure bobbing gently in the water. A disgruntled look marred her features. Noticing this, Tomoko - who had been going through their routine with Solosis one last time - turned towards her with a raised eyebrow.

"Still nothing?" she asked. Misaki shook her head. "How is this training...?"

"I _am_ training... with my _mind, _that is..." Misaki told her dramatically as if it was completely obvious.

"Why didn't you just use the bait?"

"I don't need bait!" Misaki snapped determinedly. There was silence.

"... I'll get some bait."

"Please..."

"Sorry, Solosis... I'll be back in a moment..." Tomoko sighed before walking off. Solosis nodded and then moved over to Seedot to have a quiet conversation.

Tomoko returned a few minutes later with a tin in one hand. She stood beside Misaki and held it out to her. Misaki took it from her and grinned at her before reeling in the line and removing the lure from the hook. She looked up at Tomoko.

"Thanks!"

"Not a problem!" Tomoko responded. "Come on Solosis. We're almost done." Tomoko walked over to their spot on the beach again with Solosis right behind her and began to converse again.

"Alright!" Misaki cheered as she opened the tin and took out a piece of the special Pokémon food which had been made especially for fishing. "Water-Types can't resist this stuff..."

She attached it to the hook and swung back. What happened next, she wasn't entirely sure until a white and blue bird-like Pokémon perched on a rock not too far from her, laughing as it swallowed its stolen treat. Misaki narrowed her eyes at the bird-like Pokémon, glaring at it. She discretely pulled out her Pokédex just as the bird started to prune the feathers under its left wing and began to ignore her. The Pokédex began to speak.

**"Wingull, the Seagull Pokémon. It uses its long wings to catch the ocean wind and glide across the sky and fold them when resting."**

"Wingull, huh?" Misaki narrowed her eyes as she put her Pokédex away and reached for her belt, pulling off an empty Poké Ball and holding it up in front of her face. "You stole bait from the wrong person... I'm gonna catch you..." she mumbled.

The Wingull didn't hear her and went on pruning its feathers. Seedot came up beside Misaki and awaited its orders. Tomoko and Solosis could only watch. It looked like Misaki was going slightly crazy from where they were standing. Misaki suddenly stood up and pointed at the Wingull.

"Use Bullet Seed, Seedot!"

The Wingull squawked in surprise as a barrage of seeds assaulted it, driving it off its perch and into the air. Despite being pelted with a few seeds, the Wingull escaped relatively unharmed and began to shout angrily at her, flapping its wings intimidatingly.

"Wing! Gull! Wingull!" it protested.

"Don't yell at me like this is my fault! You were the one who stole my bait!" Misaki argued.

Tomoko stared before turning to Solosis. "She's arguing with it..." she frowned in confusion.

"Sol..." Solosis sighed.

"Don't stare at me like that!" Misaki yelled. "Seedot, use Bullet Seed again!"

Seedot did as it was asked, narrowly missing the Wingull as it dodged the attack. It suddenly sucked in a breath and let out a cry, firing a stream of water along with it. The attack hit Seedot and knocked it backwards, completely soaking it. It stood up and shook itself off before shouting at the Wingull.

"Seedot! Seed!"

"Wing! Wing! Gull!" the Wingull cackled. It sucked in another breath and fired out another stream of water.

"Use Bullet Seed! Overpower it!" Misaki ordered.

The Bullet Seed did its job. The Grass-Type move easily overpowered the Water-type move and struck the Wingull head on. With a cry, the bird-like Pokémon was knocked out of the sky and hit the sand with a thud. It slowly got up, shaking itself off.

"Wing..."

Its cry sounded weak and it was shaky on its feet. Now was as good a time as any, Misaki decided. She gripped the Poké Ball in her hand tightly and pulled her arm back before throwing the capsule at the Wingull in front of her.

The ball struck the Wingull on the forehead before sucking it inside with a whoosh and a flash of light. It landed on the sand with a small thud and began to shake. One shake. Two shakes. Three shakes. There was a long pause.

_Ping..._

Misaki stared with a dumbfounded expression before suddenly grinning widely. She ran over and picked up the ball before holding it out towards Tomoko with an excited expression. "Look, Tomoko! I caught a Pokémon!" she cheered.

Tomoko gave her a thumbs-up. "Good job!" she congratulated.

"Seedot and I did awesome, right?!"

"Yeah! Especially because of the type advantage!"

Misaki paused. "... I forgot about that... Aw..." she sighed dejectedly.

"Uh... You still did really well, though!" There was silence. Tomoko quickly tried to think of something to lighten the mood. "Hey! Now you've got a new friend to travel with you!" she laughed uneasily. "I'm... uh... also ready to show you my routine with Solosis!"

Misaki perked up. "Really?" she asked. "I can't wait to see it!"

"Well, then, sit down!"

Tomoko gestured to the rock where Misaki was originally sitting. Misaki sat down and lifted Seedot onto her knee. She let Wingull out of its Poké Ball and, after a few hushed words (probably explaining what was going on), the Pokémon perched on her shoulder, ready to watch. Tomoko stood on the sand with Solosis floating beside her. She turned to the levitating Pokémon.

"Alright. Are you ready, Solosis?" she asked.

"Sol!" it nodded.

"Then, let's begin with Reflect!" Tomoko ordered.

"Solosis!" it cried as it was surrounded by an small, clear orb of energy. The sun glinted beautifully off the barrier and Solosis took on a determined expression, ready for the next phase.

"Brilliant! Now, use Psywave! Remember, you have to control it perfectly!"

Solosis nodded and began to focus. The Pokémon slowly began to control the shimmering, multi-coloured energy which wrapped itself around the inside of the barrier, rendering the Pokémon inside invisible. The sphere amplified the light of the Psywave, bathing the entire area in a beautifully soft glow, the colours of the Psywave dancing across the landscape. Tomoko spread her arms wide apart and gave out the next command.

"Great! Now, push the attack out and spin!"

Almost immediately, the barrier exploded in a shower of multi-coloured sparks and sparkles and Solosis could be seen in the centre of the sparks, twirling gracefully. The sparks became caught up in the air flow around Solosis and began to spiral around it beautifully.

"Stop!"

At this command, Solosis halted and the sparks began to slowly fall, surrounding the Pokémon in a shower of multi-coloured sparkles. Misaki began to clap enthusiastically and the Pokémon began to cheer as Tomoko and Solosis posed.

"If you do that, you're sure to make it past the first round! It was so pretty..." Misaki told Tomoko with a smile.

"Did you hear that, Solosis?" she asked excitedly. "We're going to ace the first round!" She turned to Misaki. "Are you coming to the Contest?"

"I wouldn't miss it! I'd love to see what the other Coordinators do!" Misaki declared.

Tomoko nodded with a serious expression. "That's important for me, too. There's always room to improve and watching other Coordinators can help you learn how to show off your Pokémon better," she informed Misaki.

"I can only imagine. You should rest up for the rest of the day," Misaki suggested.

"Yeah. Training too much isn't good," Tomoko agreed. "Are you going to train Seedot and Wingull for your Gym Battle?"

"Now that I have two Pokémon, it'll be a lot easier to train. They'll be able to fight against each other and it'll be good practice for an actual battle," Misaki explained.

Seedot squeaked from its seat on her knees and Misaki looked down. Wingull then let out a squawk from its perch on her shoulder and she got the message. She looked back and forwards between the two Pokémon.

"Do you two want to start now?" she smirked mischievously.

"Wing!"

"Seed! Seedot!"

"Alright, then! Let's get started!" Misaki pumped her fist in the air. "This is our first training session, so let's give it all we've got!"

"I'm going to head into town, Misaki. I want to have a look at the shops," Tomoko told her.

Misaki nodded. "Alright! Have a good time!" she waved as Tomoko walked away with Solosis following behind her.

As she began to walk up the steps to the town, Tomoko could hear the sounds of battle behind her and smiled. Misaki was certainly working hard. She and Solosis had worked hard, too, though. That was why she was ready for a day of fun after all of their hard work.

"Let's have fun, Solosis!" Tomoko grinned as she and her partner walked down a shop-lined street. The cell-like Pokémon nodded and cried happily as Tomoko spied a gift shop. They both walked inside. "We should buy something for Grandma..."

Solosis helped her look around some of the shelves. It suddenly cried out as something caught its eye. Tomoko walked over to see what it had spotted and her face lit up. It was cheap and it was absolutely perfect because her Grandmother loved such things. It was a beautiful pearl necklace. She picked it up and turned it over, noting its smoothness and quality.

A male voice spoke behind her. "Those are in abundance around here. That's why they're so cheap." Tomoko turned around. "The Clamperl are always spitting out the extra pearls that they make. They come up to the shore and wait for us and we make use of them."

"Wow... You all must have a really close relationship with the Pokémon here if they do that for you all!" Tomoko smiled at the very thought of the Pokémon in the town becoming so friendly with the humans that lived there.

"We keep the water clean and help them out and, in return, the Pokémon help us out. The clean water that we pride ourselves in helps the Pokémon to make bigger and better pearls as well as allowing both us and them to lead better lives. Sometimes, they even bring up seaweed for us to use in our food. You see, the seaweed that some Pokémon prefer is not the same as the one that we prefer as humans. You never know what they'll bring next, but it's almost always useful." The man laughed heartily. "Oh. Forgive me for not introducing myself. I work in this shop. My name is Gallagher," he told her.

Gallagher was a relatively tall, thin and pale young man, the bridge of his nose and the top of his cheeks dotted with freckles. He was almost constantly shifting the wire-framed glasses that continuously threatened to slip down his face. His untidy light brown hair threatened to fall into his eyes at almost any moment. He was carrying a box of merchandise, probably to fill up the emptying shelves. Placing it on the floor beside one of the shelves that he had to fill, he adjusted his light blue and white striped shirt and dark green apron that sported the shop logo - a Poké Ball - on the chest. He was also wearing dark blue jeans and a pair of white trainers.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm Tomoko!" Tomoko held out her hand which he took.

"You must be a travelling Pokémon Trainer," Gallagher guessed. "We get a lot of them coming through here. Most of them come for the Gym Leader."

"I've come for the Pokémon Contest," Tomoko corrected.

"Ah... There are a lot of Coordinators coming for that one. I trust you have your pass." His last statement was more like a question as he bent down to the box and opened it.

Tomoko nodded and laughed. "I wouldn't have left home without it!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dark pink ID card with a picture of a ribbon on it.

"That's good! A couple more were here not long before you and they forgot to apply for one. Thank goodness you can get them at the Contest Hall!" he laughed.

"Um... Forgive me for asking, but... where is the Contest Hall?" Tomoko asked sheepishly.

Gallagher walked out of the door with a smile with Tomoko following him and pointed down the road towards the large dome-like structure at the other side of the town - the Gym. "It's not hard to miss," he told her. If you look towards the Gym, you'll see a reddish building. While Gym Leaders change their Gyms to suit themselves, the Contest Halls all look the same. It helps Coordinators to find them. There's a sign on the building, too."

"Thanks for telling me that!" Tomoko grinned, having just spotted the building in question. They walked back inside. "I might not have found it!"

"Not a problem. This is the start of the Concerts this year so a lot of new Coordinators are coming here. You're not the only one that didn't know the building."

"That's good to hear! I was feeling a little embarrassed..." Tomoko chuckled nervously.

"There's no need. I have to get back to work, but good luck in the Contest tomorrow! I'm sure you'll do great!" he encouraged.

"Thanks! Have a nice day!" Tomoko smiled as she walked up to the counter.

"You, too!" Gallagher called after her.

With Solosis following her, Tomoko payed for the pearl necklace and placed the tiny paper bag that contained the item in her bag before walking out of the shop. Reminding herself that she was still well-stocked on supplies, she decided to head back to the Pokémon Center. Misaki would be heading back by now if the orange sky was anything to go by.

As she was walking back, she paused as she sighted a familiar figure walking down the street. She waved as the figure approached, then lowered her hand in confusion as he got closer. He looked so... tired... Shaking off that thought, she called out.

"Hey, Fintan! How did your training go?" she inquired.

Fintan's tired expression didn't change. He looked at her and then simply walked on. "Hi... Tomoko, right...?"

"Uh... Yeah! Hey... Are you feeling alright...?" she asked, following him as he walked slowly on.

"Yeah... I'm going for my Gym battle now..."

"But... you look tired... Don't you want to rest...?" Tomoko asked.

"I don't need to... Our training is done and I'm going to the Gym. You can tell Misaki that I'm moving on after that..."

"Um... Alright... If you say so..." Tomoko slowly turned away before hurrying off to tell Misaki what she had seen and heard.

Meanwhile, Fintan continued on, his eyes set on the large dome in front of him. He needed to move on as quickly as possible. Those two from Team Gene... He had to find them. He would meet them and he would force them to tell him everything. He needed to know exactly what happened. He needed to know that it was them. That it was their fault. Aside from his Gym battle, nothing else mattered.

Not even rest...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Let the Contest Begin

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Misaki burst out of the Pokémon Center just moments after Tomoko had told her what she had seen. Tomoko ran alongside her in an attempt to keep up with her with Solosis and Seedot following closely behind, their bags left forgotten in their room.

"Calm down, Misaki! Where are you going?!" Tomoko called after her, quickly becoming out of breath.

"I have to find Fintan! He's at the Gym, right? Maybe all I have to do is just talk to him and he'll stop this nonsense!" Misaki responded, her eyes set on the dome-like structure just down the road from the Pokémon Center as they ran down another shop-filled street.

"What if he isn't there anymore?" Tomoko asked.

"He will be! He's fighting a Gym Leader!" Misaki responded with a frown. "He won't finish the battle that quickly, especially if he and his Pokémon are tired. Even if he isn't there, I have to try!" She tugged at her headband in determination and began to run faster.

Tomoko was silent. There was nothing that she could do to argue with her. She was going to talk to Fintan and nothing was going to stop here. For a second, Tomoko just had to wonder how close they were. She had to wonder about their relationship.

"We're almost there!" Misaki suddenly yelled and Tomoko snapped back to attention.

Sure enough, the Gym was was looming in front of them. Another few streets and they would be there. Hopefully, they were fast enough and they would be able to catch him before he left the town. If he did, they didn't have their bags and all their supplies, so chasing him would have been foolhardy.

They were in luck, though. As they rounded the corner, they witnessed a lone figure leaving the Gym. He didn't look happy or sad. He just looked incredibly tired, what with the way that he was stumbling slightly. They continued to run closer, having recognised the figure immediately.

"Fintan!" Misaki called out as they neared him.

Fintan stopped and looked towards them. His eyes narrowed as he saw Misaki and Tomoko coming closer. He turned and began to slowly walk towards them, a look of slight confusion marring his features as the girls approached him. Houndour stood at his side, looking almost as tired as Fintan was.

"What are you two doing here...?" he asked quietly.

"You can't... do this... Fintan..." Misaki panted as she drew to a halt in front of them, the effects of her run starting to catch up with her. Tomoko wasn't much different.

"I have to," he responded, his emotionless expression never changing.

"But, why?!" Misaki shouted, her tone laced with confusion.

"I need to get stronger. I need to find Team Gene again and I need to catch them this time," he informed her.

"Why would you want to find them?" Tomoko asked in confusion. "Why not just let Officer Jenny catch them?"

"I wouldn't be able to ask them a question if I did. That question is all that matters now. I need to keep challenging Gyms to get stronger," Fintan told them, a slight, yet almost missable, hint of anger in his tone.

"What question would that be?" Misaki's tone contained a hint of suspicion.

"That's none of your business."

"I think it is!" Misaki argued.

"It's not. Nevertheless, I'm going to get stronger and I'm going to track them down. As I said before, nothing else matters," his eyes narrowed intimidatingly.

"Fintan..." Misaki's eyes became filled with tears. Tomoko flinched as Misaki raised a hand and slapped Fintan across the face. He reached a hand up to his cheek in shock as she got closer and glared at him. "You idiot!" she yelled. "What did you tell me yesterday?! You said that I was like your sister! That I was important to you! If that's the way you want to be, then, fine! I'll just get stronger, too! I'll beat you and show you that you're wrong!"

With that, she stormed away with bitter tears running down her cheeks. Tomoko looked back and forth between Misaki and Fintan, almost as if she was wondering who needed the comfort most. The distraught Misaki or the utterly shocked Fintan who held his quickly reddening left cheek, watching as Misaki ran off into the distance. He sighed.

"It's better this way..." he muttered before heading in the other direction towards the town exit.

Tomoko made her decision and ran after the now-running Misaki as she headed back to the Pokémon Center. "Wait, Misaki!" she called after her as they both rounded a corner and disappeared from Fintan's sight.

_Later..._

Tomoko knocked on the door of the room that she was sharing with Misaki, a tray with a bowl of of tomato soup and a glass of milk on it balanced under her arm. She heard a muffled voice inside the room and took that as her cue to enter. She opened the door and flicked on the light, brightening the once-dark room. She shifted the tray so that she was carrying it with both of her hands and set it down on the bed beside a huddled figure who was covered with their blankets.

"I brought you some soup, Misaki," Tomoko smiled, patting Misaki on the back as she sat down.

"Thanks..." Misaki sniffed as she took the bowl and the spoon and began to eat slowly.

"You'll feel better soon. Wait until you see the Contest! The performances there always make me feel better...!"

Misaki sniffed again. "Yeah... Thanks..." She smiled softly. "I can't wait to see it..."

Tomoko nodded. She sounded genuine. With a last pat on the back, she stood up. "I'll leave you alone for a while..." She got up and left the room, closing the door behind her softly.

Tomoko leaned back against the door with a sigh. A million thoughts were running through her head at that moment. She couldn't very well leave Misaki to continue her journey alone after all of this, could she? Especially not after they had managed to become friends. That left the problem. Would Misaki... even want her to come along...?

_The next day..._

To say that Tomoko was nervous was an understatement. Misaki was currently trying to tell her that everything would be fine and Tomoko wasn't listening to a word of it as she bustled about in the Contest Hall waiting room. She tugged at her ponytail and straightened out her white dress, fidgeting with the large black bow on the back that was tied around her waist.

"Is my hair alright?! Is my dress straight?!" she panicked.

"Your hair and your dress are fine! You're going to do great!" Misaki hurriedly told her, waving her arms in front of her face defensively. Tomoko continued to panic and a trail of sweat ran down the side of Misaki's face as she laughed nervously. "Calm down..." Her words fell on deaf ears.

Suddenly, the bustle in the waiting room halted as a large plasma screen TV that once bore the Pokémon Contest logo - a pink ribbon on a blue background - upon it flared into life, showing the face of a young woman with curled light brown hair, blue eyes and a mole on her lower left jaw. She wore a pair of blue circular earrings and a long dark blue dress accompanied by dark blue pumps.

"Hello, everyone and welcome to the first Pokémon Contest of the year in the beautiful fishing town of Aquarei!" the announcer smiled.

Tomoko's breathing quickened. "Oh..." she moaned. "It's starting..." Misaki gently patted her on the back as the announcer continued.

"My name is Jillian and I'm your announcer for today! Now, let's take a moment to have a look at our contestants!"

The camera panned out so that a screen was visible above Jillian's head before zooming in on it as the Contest logo faded and was replaced by pictures of the contestants. Misaki looked for Tomoko's picture, spotting her in the third row.

"Let's give them all a big round of applause and wish them all the very best!" A loud cheer and claps resounded from the audience. "Now, before we get this Contest underway, let's take a moment to meet our judges!" The camera drifted to three people who sat behind white desks with a screen set into them. The announcer gestured to the first judge. "Mr. Contesta!"

Mr. Contesta nodded with a smile on his face. "It's great to be back and good luck to all our contestants!"

"The leader of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!"

"Remarkable!" the man of few words exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Finally, the resident Nurse Joy of Aquarei Town!"

"It's wonderful to be here! Good luck to all those who are competing!" she smiled gently.

"Now, let's call out contestant number one!"

Misaki turned away from the screen and back to her friend. "I have to go back to my seat. Good luck!" she told Tomoko.

Tomoko gulped. "Y-yeah... T-thanks..." she stammered. Misaki left, closing the door behind her.

The Contest sped by in a haze of beauty and power that amazed Misaki more and more with each routine that was completed and, rather often, surprisingly, mistakes that left the judges frowning until the poor contestant left the stage and the next one came on.

It wasn't long before Tomoko was called. The curtain at the edge of the stage drifted open and Tomoko stepped out into the spotlight, Poké Ball clutched tightly in one hand. Seedot and Wingull began to cheer excitedly from the railings in front of Misaki who was clapping enthusiastically and cheering at the top of her lungs. Tomoko let out a sigh to calm herself and her expression became one of determination.

"We just need to do this like we planned..." she whispered to herself. She attempted to smile and did a twirl, her dress trailing beautifully behind her as she gracefully threw her Poké Ball into the air. The Seal did its job, for soon after it was thrown Ito the air, it exploded into a flurry of sparkles which glittered as they floated through the air. Solosis began to twirl as it sped around the stage, bringing a shimmering trail of glitter with it.

"Look at that grace! This will be a performance to see!" Jillian announced excitedly.

The Pokémon spun around its trainer, bringing the glitter with it before stopping. Tomoko struck a pose as the glitter dissipated and the crowd went wild as Tomoko turned to her partner who floated beside her happily.

"Are you ready, Solosis?" she asked.

"Sol!" it nodded.

"Just like we practised! Let's start off with Reflect!" Tomoko ordered.

"Solosis!" it cried as it was surrounded by the familiar small, clear orb of energy, the sun once again striking beautifully off the barrier through the open roof of the Contest Hall.

"Brilliant! Now, use Psywave! Control it just like we practiced!"

Solosis nodded and began to focus in the same way that it had done when performing for Misaki. The Pokémon slowly and carefully began to control the shimmering, multi-coloured energy which wrapped itself around the inside of the barrier and Solosis was, once again, rendered Pokémon invisible. The sphere amplified the light of the Psywave, bathing the entire stage and the audience in a beautifully and familiar soft glow to Misaki, the colours of the Psywave dancing across the crowd and the judges who stared at the beauty in awe. Tomoko spread her arms wide apart and gave out the next command.

"The control is perfect and the results are beautiful! It looks like a lot of training was done here!" Jillian complimented.

"Great! Now, push the attack out and spin!"

Almost immediately, the barrier exploded in a shower of multi-coloured sparks and sparkles and Solosis could be seen in the centre of the sparks, twirling gracefully. The sparks became caught up in the air flow around Solosis, much in the same way that the glitter had at the start and began to spiral around it beautifully.

"Stop!"

Solosis halted, causing the sparks to begin to slowly fall, surrounding the Pokémon in a shower of multi-coloured sparkles. The usual roar of approval and clapping swept through the crowd as Tomoko and Solosis posed once again. They both bowed.

"What a display of grace and power! Now, let's hear a word from our judges! Do you have something to say, Mr. Contesta?" Jillian asked gesturing to the judges.

"I second that, Jillian! This performance did a great job of showing Solosis's grace, power and control! A lot of work was obviously put into this! It was a wonderful performance, especially for a new Coordinator! Well done to the both of you!" He gestured to Tomoko and Solosis in turn as he finished. Both Coordinator and Pokémon couldn't stop themselves from beaming.

Mr. Sukizo spoke up next. "Remarkable!" was all that he said.

Nurse Joy took that as her cue. "While we still have many more to go, this is an prime example of some if the tremendous talent that is on exhibit today! Well done!" she clapped.

"Thank you so much!" Tomoko bowed before running off stage with Solosis behind her, a smile splitting her face.

She waited until she got back to the waiting room before she practically exploded. "We did it, Solosis!" she cheered as another person walked out of the door behind her to head to the stage. He took a deep breath and calmed herself down. "Still... The Contest isn't over yet. We should watch the rest of the performances. We might learn something." Solosis nodded and followed its Trainer as Tomoko went to sit down on a bench.

The next Coordinator stepped out onto the stage who Tomoko recognised as the girl who had walked out of the room shortly after she entered. Jillian gestured to her as the girl held up her Poké Ball. Her expression remained peaceful. Her hair was pitch black and reached the middle of her back, her fringe shading her golden-coloured eyes slightly. Her clothes were those of a priestess.

"Let's give it up for Enid!" Jillian smiled.

The girl - Enid - threw the Poké Ball which erupted in a puff of black smoke as it opened. At first, the Pokémon was not visible and the audience was left waiting to see what the mysterious Pokémon was and Enid certainly wasn't prepared to tell them. As the smoke slowly dissipated, a round figure could be seen floating inside the haze. It spoke slowly and eerily.

"Gaaastly..." it grinned, its fangs bared.

Tomoko shuddered as she saw the ghostly shape emerge on screen. She turned to Solosis. "G-Ghost-types...! Why'd it have to be Ghost-types?!"

Without giving Jillian the chance to speak, the miko slowly raised her hand into the air. Her voice was almost inaudible. "Use Smog, Gastly..."

"Gastly!" it responded as a purplish haze escaped from its mouth and covered the stage, prompting Jillian to move over to where the judges sat in an attempt to avoid becoming poisoned.

"That's quite a range, but we can't see a thing! How is she going to perform if we can't see Gastly?" Jillian asked herself more than the audience.

"Use Mean Look..."

Gastly's eyes immediately became visible through the Smog. They were glowing a bright blue as Gastly's haunting laugh echoed around the Contest Hall. Most people were already feeling uneasy in the mere presence of the Ghost-type Pokémon. Enid continued, raising her hand.

"Enlarge..."

As if by magic, the Pokémon began to grow bigger, its large eyes leering at the audience as the laughter continued. Most were confused as to how this was happening until Jillian began to explain. She raised her microphone.

"As Gastly's body is made out of poisonous gases, it can easily enlarge itself to attack prey, especially with Smog all over the field! While it can already enlarge itself, this Smog is increasing its abilities because it can use the Smog like a part of its own body!" she explained.

Soon, all of the Smog dissipated through the open ceiling and Gastly began to shrink, its power source gone. Its laughter ceased and it quickly flew over to its Trainer, hovering beside her head. Enid closed her eyes.

"We're finished..." Enid told the judges when no one responded for a few moments.

Realising that she was supposed to speak, Jillian quickly cleared her throat. "W-what a haunting routine...! W-what do you have to say about it, Mr. Contesta...?" she stammered, still shivering slightly.

The judge was quick to compose himself. "Through this performance, you have managed to show the nature of the Ghost-type Pokémon in a rather remarkable and haunting way. While absolutely terrifying... it was also absolutely brilliant! I don't think that we've had someone play on the nature of their Pokémon yet! This is truly one of the best performances that we've had so far! Good job and keep it up!"

Mr. Sukizo nodded. "R-remarkable...!" he exclaimed, unable to keep his voice steady as Gastly stared at him, waiting for his verdict.

"I agree with Mr. Contesta. While simple, the whole routine managed to effectively show the nature of the Pokémon that was performing. Simplicity is best!" Nurse Joy smiled, obviously unfazed by the routine.

Enid bowed politely and left the stage with Gastly following her close behind. There was silence for a few moments before Jillian decided to announce the next Coordinator, finally composing herself after the last terrifying routine.

Inside the waiting room, Tomoko shuddered. "G-Ghost-types freak me out, Solosis..." she whimpered, ignoring the rest of the Contest as it went by.

Solosis frowned in concern and hovered in front of her face. "Sol...! Solosis...!"

"I-I know... I'm being a wimp..."

Suddenly, the door opened behind her. She turned around and froze. There, in the entrance, stood Enid, her Ghastly floating beside her head, its wide grin and leering eyes staring straight through her, almost as if she didn't exist.

"W-we're not going to have to fight them..." she gulped. "... Do we...?"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Facing the Fear

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Misaki walked into the waiting room at the end of the Appeals Round to see Tomoko sitting on the bench, huddled up as Solosis fussed around her. Enid was nowhere to be seen, having left earlier to go to the bathroom.

"Are you alright, Tomoko?" Misaki asked her. Tomoko turned around to look at her friend.

"Hi, Misaki..." She paused. "I... I don't think I can do this..." she eventually sighed.

"What?! But you worked so hard! Why can't you do this?!" Misaki exclaimed.

"I didn't know that there would be Ghost-types here!" Tomoko snapped angrily. Her gaze slowly became sad and she looked away. "I'm sorry... It's just that... Ghost-types scare me..." she shuddered.

"But, look at Solosis! It's trying so hard!" Misaki reasoned.

"I know... That's why I'm so mad at myself... But... Enid... I don't think I can beat her..." Tomoko mumbled.

"You can!" Misaki argued.

"I can't! Not only am I terrified, but she has a type advantage! I can't beat her!"

Misaki took a step back, shocked from the outburst. After staring at Tomoko for a few seconds, she spoke again. "Hey. Relax. Maybe you won't even have to fight her. There are people with a type advantage against Ghost-types here. They'll probably get paired up with her," Misaki told her friend as she leaned over to rub her back. Tomoko sighed,

"M-maybe you're right... There are far more people than me in this Contest..." Tomoko paused as the screen in the waiting room suddenly lit up again.

"Thank you for waiting, folks! The judges have made their decisions and we will now be revealing who will be moving forward to the next round!" Jillian declared as she appeared on the TV screen.

Tomoko gulped. "I just need to get through this round, first..."

"These are the people who will be going through to round 2!" The camera moved as Jillian gestured to the large screen behind her. One by one, pictures began to quickly pop up on the screen.

Misaki pointed. "There you are!" she cheered.

"There's Enid, too..." Tomoko said, pointing to the picture beside her own.

"The second round will begin soon. I should head back to my seat. Are you going to be OK?" Misaki asked as the sounds of both relieved and disappointed sighs resounded throughout the waiting room with many simply walking out without another word.

Tomoko nodded. "I'll be fine."

Misaki gave her a final rub on the back followed by a quick pat. "Good luck."

"Thanks...!"

"The next round will begin soon! Until then, please stay seated!" Jillian's face disappeared from the screen and the Contest logo reappeared.

Tomoko sighed just as Misaki left the room but turned as soon as she heard the door open behind her. Turning, she saw Enid and Gastly in the doorway. Enid slowly walked over to her, her eyes on the clock, and sat down on the bench beside her. She turned to look at Tomoko.

"... Did they announce who would be going through yet...?" she asked, her voice eerily quiet.

Suppressing her stammer, Tomoko spoke up. "Um... Yeah! We both got through!"

There was a few seconds of silence where Enid did nothing more than stare. Just as Tomoko began to become even more uneasy, Enid began to smile gently. No one noticed Gastly suddenly disappearing into thin air.

"... That's good... Maybe we'll face each other..." Enid smiled.

At the sight of the smile, Tomoko suddenly found herself at ease. "Yeah... Maybe... Uh... Hey... I liked your routine..." Tomoko mentally cursed herself. _'I must have sounded like an idiot, stumbling over my words like that...' _she thought.

Enid only continued to smile. "I liked your routine, too... Very graceful... Very pretty... Your Solosis has a lot of control... It's power is good, too," she told her.

"Your Gastly looked really powerful, too. It must get a lot of power when it gets bigger like that..."

"No... It's merely the illusion of power..." Enid smiled. "Lots of Ghost-types can use illusions and their surroundings to seem bigger and more powerful... It's usually either a means of defense or a way to make mischief..." she chuckled quietly.

"GASTLY!" the Ghost-type suddenly shouted from behind Tomoko's head. She shrieked and covered her ears as the Pokémon began to laugh at her, Solosis joining in having not been scared in the slightest.

"That wasn't very nice..." Tomoko whimpered.

"I'm very sorry about Gastly... He likes to make mischief, but his heart's in the right place..." Enid apologised.

Tomoko nodded and gulped, removing her hands from her ears. "Y-yeah... Just... please don't do it again..."

Enid was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "... Do you perhaps... fear the Ghost-type...?" she asked.

Tomoko paused, unsure of what to say for fear of offending either the Pokémon or its Trainer. Enid simply kept smiling as Gastly floated down and rested on her knees. She raised a hand and began to pat Gastly's solid form on the head.

"It's alright... Many are... I just wish that people would try to get to know them better..." She stopped talking and looked down at Gastly, the smile slipping from her face as she appeared to be engaged in deep thought. She suddenly looked up again, her smile back in place. "How about you try now...?"

Tomoko looked confused. "Try what?"

"Try to get to know Ghost-types better..." Enid replied as though it was completely obvious.

Tomoko wasn't sure what to do. Before she could decide, Enid reached over and took her hand. She paused at the gentleness in Enid's touch, a realisation dawning on her, momentarily forgetting the fact that her hand was slowly being drawn towards the Ghost-type Pokémon.

Tomoko thought back to Enid's appeal. She had been so disengaged from the audience. So emotionless. Enid wasn't really like this. At least, she wasn't now, anyway. Could have all been a facade? Something to hide her true emotions from the audience? Now that she wasn't in that situation, she was showing her true colours.

A theory in mind, Tomoko spoke up. "Um... Enid?" Enid looked into her eyes, wondering what the matter was. Tomoko continued. "Could you be afraid of crowds?"

Enid was shocked and her expression showed it as her eyes widened, never once leaving Tomoko's own. Her smile slowly disappeared as she continued to stare at Tomoko. She looked down and away, finally averting her eyes from Tomoko.

"... How did you know...?" she asked quietly.

Tomoko smiled slightly. "You're acting totally different from when you're out on stage. It's almost like the 'you' on stage is just a facade. It's not the real you. What other reason is there to put up such a facade other than fear?"

Enid paused, looking down at Gastly. "... It's something that I'm working on... I desperately want to be in Contests... I love to perform... So does Gastly... It's just that..." She paused. "I'm holding Gastly back like this, aren't I...?"

"To be honest, my fear of Ghost-types is doing exactly the same thing. When I saw Gastly, I wanted to leave the Contest, even though Solosis desperately wanted to go on..." Tomoko looked over at Solosis. "I'm sorry... It's because I'm weak..."

Solosis grinned at her as if attempting to wipe away all of her worries. "Sol! Solosis!" it chirped.

"... How do you do it...?" Enid asked. "Stop fearing crowds, I mean..."

Tomoko appeared to be lost in thought. "Well..." she began. "... I just assure myself that if we do it just like we practiced, everything will be alright. Then, I just start losing myself in the routine and forget all about the audience until everything's over! Basically, I just ignore them! It's about the routine! Not the audience!"

Enid chuckled. "I wish that I could do that..."

"I wish that I could at least touch a Ghost-type!" Tomoko smirked.

Enid looked confused. "... But... you have been for the past few minutes..."

Tomoko hesitated. "... I... have...?"

She looked down at the hand that Enid had been holding to see that it was currently resting gently on top of Gastly's head. It was almost a similar sensation to the one that she would feel if she was touch ping Solosis. It felt smooth and hard, but delicate at the same time, almost as if any extra pressure than was strictly necessary would cause the round Pokémon to pop under the pressure.

She paused as she suddenly realised her situation. She was touching a Ghost-type...! Pulling her hand back with a little yelp of surprise, Tomoko quickly became embarrassed and twiddled her fingers nervously, avoiding eye contact with Enid and Gastly.

"I-I'm sorry..." she muttered, her cheeks turning bright red.

"... That was a good start..." Tomoko looked back at Enid's smiling face. "You touched a Ghost-type... This is the first step... Maybe I can do the same thing today..."

"Y-yes! Let's do our best!" Tomoko stammered, relieved that she was making progress and that Enid and Gastly were not angry with her.

Their attentions were suddenly dragged away from each other to focus on the screen. Jillian had reappeared and was gesturing to the large screen behind her. With a bright smile on her face, she began to speak.

"Thank you for waiting! We will now begin to match up the Coordinators with their opponents! Let's begin!" she cheered.

The rows of pictures began to flicker and change at high speeds, pairing up each image of the Coordinators with the Coordinator beside them. After a few seconds, the images began to stop moving and, row by row, each Coordinator was matched with their opponent.

Tomoko didn't recognise her opponent. They must have gone while she was in the middle of her dilemma regarding Gastly. Enid didn't seem to recognise her opponent, either, having missed their performance while she was in the bathroom. They looked around the room, locating the humans and their Pokémon.

Tomoko was to face a little girl with wavy blonde hair that was held back by a black hair band, blue eyes in a pink, frilly dress with puffy sleeves and a white ribbon that was tied around the middle in a bow, white knee-high socks and pink, strapped shoes and her Purrloin and Enid appeared to be facing an older boy with a teal-coloured shirt, black jeans and a mop of brown hair and brown eyes with a Buizel. Tomoko, seeing Enid's opponent, turned towards the priestess and held out a hand, feeling that it was safe to do so as Gastly had floated out of her arms.

"Good luck," Tomoko told her. Enid nodded.

"Likewise... May we meet each other in the finals..."

"Let's have our first Coordinators! Enid and Takumi!"

The audience began to roar with excitement as Edit let go of Tomoko's hand and stood. With a small wave, she moved towards the door, her opponent joining her a few seconds later. They both recalled their Pokémon before opening the door and walking down the hall together. Tomoko returned her eyes to the screen, ready to watch the battle progress.

It wasn't long before the two trainers reached the stage. Enid took her place on the right side of the field while Takumi took his place on the left. Both Coordinators raised their Poké Balls, ready for the battle to begin. Jillian walked over to the edge of the stage as the images of the two trainers, a timer and a yellow circles under each image appeared on the screen above her.

"It's almost time, folks! Remember: the match is over when one Coordinator runs out of points, when one Pokémon faints or when the timer runs out! In that case, the Coordinator with the most points wins! Do your best! There are 5 minutes on the clock! Let the match... begin!" Jillian announced.

"Alright, Gastly...! Appear...!" Enid called with slightly more vigour than usual, throwing her Poké Ball into the air. The familiar billowing smoke surrounded it and Gastly soon appeared as the smoke dissipated.

"Gaaaastly..." The Pokémon stuck out its tongue at Takumi with a laugh.

The other Trainer, undaunted, simply threw his Poké Ball into the air. The capsule exploded into a shower of pretty bubbles as Buizel did a backflip in midair before landing on the stage, the bubbles popping above it and showering the field with sparkles. It smirked at Gastly, ready to battle with the Ghost-type.

"Bui, Bui!" it challenged, striking a powerful-looking fighting stance.

Noticing this, Enid smiled. "Your Buizel looks as though it has been well trained... Its fighting stance is wonderful..."

"Just wait until you see her battle!" Takumi rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment before returning his attention to the battle.

"Very well... I shall start this!" All gentleness left her voice. She threw her hand towards the stage. "Gastly! Use Smog!"

Almost immediately, Gastly spewed out a thick, black mist onto the stage, shrouding both Pokémon and rendering them impossible to see. Takumi's points dropped slightly, the yellow circle under his name becoming filled with black.

"Takumi's points have dropped! That was a powerful Smog from Gastly and, now, Takumi and Buizel can't see their opponent! While that is good for Enid and Gastly, will Gastly be able to land a hit either?!" Jillian asked the audience. "If we can't see a thing, how can they?!"

Takumi didn't waste another second. Clenching his fist, he shouted out an order. "Buizel! Use Sonic Boom! Blast that Smog away!"

"Bui!" Inside the Smog, Buizel nodded and, jumping into the air and letting off waves of sound, blowing away all of the Smog before Enid and Gastly could make another move. The stage slowly became visible again as Enid's points dropped, becoming lower than Takumi's.

"Alright... Let's do this another way... Use Hypnosis!" The priestess commanded.

"Gaaastly..." the Ghost-type laughed, its eyes glowing a bright, piercing red.

"Quick! Look away and use Sonic Boom!" Takumi shouted in a panic. If Buizel was asleep, the match was as good as over.

Prying its eyes away from the orb of gas, Buizel closed its eyes and fired a few Sonic Boom attacks in the direction of Gastly. With a chuckle, Gastly simply stood its ground and allowed Sonic Boom after Sonic Boom to connect. However, to Takumi's despair, the attacks simply passed right through the Gas Pokémon and hit the wall of the stage.

"What's going on?! That should have connected!" the older boy complained. While half of the audience appeared to be confused, the other half either erupted into fits of laughter or sighed at his lack of knowledge. Enid appeared to look relieved, sighing slightly. The audience were approving her.

"Let me explain for those who aren't aware!" Jillian spoke up. "Normal-type moves like Sonic Boom have no effect on Ghost-types! That move has lost Takumi a lot of points!"

Takumi watched in annoyance as about 1/3 of his circle became filled with black. Enid, noticing that Buizel still had its eyes closed in order to protect itself against Gastly's Hypnosis, took the opportunity to her advantage.

"Quick, Gastly! Use Lick!" she ordered.

Gastly was quick to comply as it disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the stage beside Buizel as many Ghost-types did. Buizel opened its eyes in order to mount a counterattack, but it was too late. With a giggle, Gastly stuck out its' long, wide tongue and licked Buizel up the side of its head. Buizel appeared to freeze in disgust. Takumi's points went down further.

"Don't let it do that! Fight back with Aqua Tail!" Takumi called, worried that his partner had been paralysed.

Buizel, still disgusted, shook off the fact that he had just been licked and, his tails began to become surrounded in spiralling water. Before, Gastly could move out of the way, Buizel's twin tails slammed into it simultaneously, knocking the ball of gas backwards. It fell down on the field, but was floating in seconds, not because it was injured, but because it was natural for something made of gases to float. It shook off the shock of the impact and faced its opponent once more as Enid's points dropped, becoming roughly equal with Takumi.

"That was a powerful Aqua Tail! Gastly allowing itself to get into close range with its opponent was a big mistake! That'll lost Enid a lot of points!" Jillian frowned, gesturing to Gastly. "There is one more minute left!"

"Use Hypnosis, Gastly!" Enid commanded. "We don't have much time!"

Gastly's eyes immediately began to glow red and it locked eyes with Buizel. Buizel, having been Gible no time to look away, began to sway on its feet, its' eyes becoming blank before slowly sliding shut. Despite the protests of its trainer, the Water-type slumped to the ground moments later, snoring softly, no longer aware of the drama going on around it.

"Get up, Buizel!" Takumi panicked, hoping that his voice would get through and that his partner would wake up.

A few tense seconds passed as Enid and Gastly watched and waited, making sure that their attack was successful. The audience were leaning forward on the edge of their seats, waiting for the outcome. Gastly suddenly began to giggle, spurring Jillian into motion.

"It appears that the attack was a success!" she declared as Takumi's points went down. The announcer turned around at the sound of the ping behind her. The timer had just run out. "Time's up!" she announced. "Takumi's points are lower than Enid's, meaning that Enid and Gastly are moving on to the next round!"

Takumi's head bowed in defeat as the crowd exploded with applause. Enid discreetly tried to hide the blush that was slowly creeping its way across her face as the crowd cheered her on, happy that she had been approved of.

"As long as we can keep doing this, we'll be fine, Gastly!" she whispered to her partner.

"Congratulations! You made this a memorable first battle of the year! Now, let's move on to the next battle!" Jillian beamed as she waved a hand at the board. The images of the next two contestants appeared on the screen as Enid left the stage. She paused and looked back as Jillian announced the two opponents. "Next up are Sheryl and Tomoko!"

Enid smiled slightly from her place behind the stage curtain, turning to the floating ball of gas beside her. "We'll be seeing them fight much sooner than we thought, Gastly..."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Abandoned

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Tomoko made her way to the stage almost the very moment that she was called, excited for the next round. What she didn't expect, though, was the little girl that she was facing shoving her out of the way the moment that they reached the door.

"Stay out of my way, peasant..." the little girl had smirked before throwing her wavy hair behind her. She had stuck her nose up in the air and walked on, fixing her dress as she walked.

Tomoko had simply sighed and ignored her, walking on towards the stage. There was no reasoning with spoiled little rich girls like that and that was exactly what Tomoko had just decided she was, especially after that display of sheer rudeness.

The walk to the stage was short. She found Enid waiting for her at the entrance to the stage. The priestess nodded at her in greeting as she approached and held out a hand towards her which Tomoko took, shaking it. Gastly and Solosis floated next to their Trainers, watching them.

"Good job, Enid! The crowd really liked you!" Tomoko cheered.

"I know... It was terrifying, though..." Enid chuckled. "Nonetheless, I wish you good luck...!"

"Thanks, Enid!" Tomoko responded with a bright smile.

"Sheryl and Tomoko, please take the stage!" Jillian suddenly called from behind the curtains of the stage.

Taking her hand away from Enid, Tomoko began to walk away, waving at Enid as she did so. Enid smiled and waved back at her as Tomoko turned around and disappeared behind the curtains, ready to face her opponent.

Blinking back the blinding light that the lights of the stage were sending her way, Tomoko looked towards the other side of the field. Her opponent was standing in her place, a wide smirk on her face as she stared at Tomoko, looking her up and down.

"Humph..." Tomoko heard the girl grunt as she inspected Tomoko's dress. "Just what I would expect from a peasant..."

"Peasant...? What are you talking about...?" Tomoko finally asked her, having wondered about her use of the word 'peasant' since she had first used it in the hallway.

"Are you not aware of who I am?!" the girl screeched. "The insolence! _My_ Daddy is the owner of a grand estate and is a judge in Gearia City! My Daddy says that all poor people are peasants!" she boasted in a shrill voice.

Suddenly, Tomoko understood her attitude. Everyone had heard of the situation in Gearia. There, you were either rich or poor. It stood in the centre of the region and was made up of towering skyscrapers and low, dirty slums. All those who were to face trial headed to Gearia. However, the judges accepted bribes and the crime rate was through the roof. Unfortunately, very often, the guilty walked free and the innocent suffered. Not even the mayor was in charge of the situation, his power being dwarfed by the greed and financial power of the head judge. It wasn't just the head judge, though. There was barely a good one among them. The only good judges were the poor judges, and the man that Sheryl was referring to was not one of them.

Tomoko gritted her teeth. "Are you proud of the work that your daddy does...?" she asked Sheryl scathingly.

The girl seemed taken aback by the question. "Of course!" She closed her eyes and shrugged her shoulders and raising her hands as if she was stating the obvious and anyone who stated otherwise was sadly mistaken. "_My_ Daddy keeps the region safe from criminals! He puts bad people in jail! What does _your_ daddy do? Does _he_ have such an important role? I don't think so!" she laughed.

"Then you don't seem to realise the situation very well, do you? Do you know where all your daddy's money comes from?" Tomoko asked, raising a Poké Ball.

"It comes from the good work that he does!" Sheryl flicked her hair out of her eyes with a smirk on her face, completely oblivious to the situation and also raised her Poké Ball.

Seeing that the two were ready, Jillian turned away from her conversation with the judges and gestured to the crowd. "It appears that our two Coordinators are ready! Remember: there are 5 minutes on the clock! The first person to lose all their points or to have their Pokémon faint is declared the loser! Now, let the battle... begin!" Jillian announced.

Tomoko was the first to throw her Poké Ball into the air. "Let's go, Solosis!" she cried out. It exploded into the familiar shower of sparkles with Solosis appearing in the centre. The Poké Ball flew back into Tomoko's hand as Sheryl threw her own into the air.

"Show the peasants their place, Purrloin!" Sheryl smirked as the Poké Ball opened, showing the stage with with small pink hearts which slowly floated down to the stage below and popped into tiny showers of sparkles as they touched the floor, almost as if they were bubbles.

Landing delicately on the stage, the purple, cream pink cat - Purrloin - stood up on its hind legs and glared at Solosis and Tomoko, sticking out a paw and beckoning as if challenging them. Inside its fluid-filled orb, Solosis frowned and floated forwards slightly.

"Sol! Sol!" it yelled angrily, having been offended by its opponent and its Coordinator's behaviour.

"Stay calm, Solosis. This is no time to become distracted," Tomoko warned.

With a small laugh, Sheryl was the first to declare an attack. "Use Growl, Purrloin!"

Purrloin complied, sitting down on the stage floor and growling cutely at Solosis. Tomoko raised an eyebrow at the attack. It didn't look like anything had happened. Putting it down to the attack missing, Tomoko raised her hand.

"Solosis! Use Psywave!" she ordered. The familiar multicoloured energy gathered in front of Solosis and was soon fired at Purrloin.

"Dodge it and use Growl again!" Sheryl smirked.

Purrloin did as it was asked, quickly getting up from the stage and expertly flipping out of the way as the attack hit the stage. Tomoko frowned. It seemed as though Psywave was different than it usually was, almost as if it was losing power.

It landed a few feet away and sat down again, growling at Solosis once again. Tomoko was getting annoyed. "What is your Purrloin doing?" Tomoko asked. "It's just growling. Why haven't you thrown an attack yet?" she asked in a disgruntled tone. She shook it off. "Never mind. Use Psywave again, Solosis!"

"Dodge again!" Sheryl commanded as the multicoloured wave of psychic energy hurtled towards the purple cat.

Dodging again, Tomoko watched as the Psywave, once again, connected with the stage. This time, however, the change in the attack was painfully obvious. It was noticeably weaker than it should have been. She turned towards Solosis, looking for answers. "What's wrong, Solosis? Your attacks aren't as strong as they usually are."

Solosis turned slightly, shaking its head from side to side. "Sol." It seemed just as confused as she was.

Suddenly, a noise could be heard above them. They looked up, only to see their points drop until about a quarter of the circle was black. Jillian spoke up, providing an explanation. "It appears as it the last two Growl attacks have hit their mark! For all those who aren't aware, Growl is an move that lowers the Attack of the opponent!"

Gritting her teeth, Tomoko turned back to the battle at hand. "Then, let's just make sure that doesn't happen again! Solosis! Get close and use Confuse Ray!"

Solosis moved before the the attack could even be called, reaching Purrloin at an astonishing speed before stopping in front of it. Purrloin didn't have time to move as the attack began. Solosis began to glow a faint golden colour as six golden orbs appeared, surrounding its body and moving in a clockwise motion. Suddenly, its body flashed a bright white colour and the orbs fired at Purrloin. The orbs surrounded. Purrloin before attaching to the Pokémon. They suddenly brightly glowed gold before exploding, shrouding Purrloin in smoke.

After the smoke cleared, Purrloin could be seen tottering around the stage, trying to stay upright in its confused state. "It appears that Confuse Ray has hit!" Jillian announced excitedly as Sheryl's points dropped until they were just below Tomoko's.

"Stop fooling around! Use Scratch!" Sheryl suddenly shouted angrily.

At first, Purrloin seemed to be complying. Its claws unsheathed themselves and began to glow white, but, just as soon as the attack was readied, it backfired as, in its confusion, Purrloin raked its claws down its own body, inflicting damage to the wrong target. Sheryl's points dropped again, the circle becoming almost half-filled with black.

"Use Psywave again, Solosis!" Tomoko ordered. Solosis immediately began to ready the attack.

"Dodge it!" Sheryl cried out.

However, the attack was unleashed point blank at Purrloin, hitting it head on. The cat-like Pokémon was knocked back, hitting the stage with a great force, though it was not has great as it should have been due to the Growl attacks that had affected Solosis earlier in the battle.

Suddenly, Purrloin stood up and turned towards them, its confusion broken by the force of the attack. "Use Scratch, Purrloin!" Sheryl commanded.

"Purr!" it purred, its claws elongating and glowing their familiar white colour. It jumped at Solosis, striking it with incredible speed and knocking the Cell Pokémon to the stage floor. Tomoko's points dropped, but they still weren't as low as Sheryl's.

Solosis floated back up again, hovering in place as Tomoko gestured towards Purrloin. "Get close and use Psywave!"

"Don't let it! Use Scratch!" Sheryl countered.

Both Pokémon readied their attacks and charged towards each other. However, just as they attacks were about to strike, a ping was heard around the arena, causing both Pokémon to grind to a halt. Both Coordinators looked up at the board, noticing that the time had run out. Seeing their points Tomoko gave out a sigh of relief.

"Time's up! The one with the most points - and the winner - is Tomoko!" Jillian declared as the audience began to cheer on the victor.

A shriek suddenly emanated from the other side of the stage. "No! I lost!" Sheryl screeched. She pointed her finger towards Purrloin accusingly. "This is your fault! You were supposed to be the best that Daddy's money could buy! How could you lose?! You're worthless!"

"Purr..." The cat-like Pokémon lowered its head in shame as the audience fell silent in shock. The judges gazes became stony as they stared at the sight before them.

To their shock, after a few minutes of of Sheryl yelling, she finally finished it up with one of the worst things that a Trainer, let alone a Coordinator, could ever say to one of their Pokémon. "I don't need you anymore! I'll find something better! Get out of my sight!"

Angered, Tomoko stepped forward. "Wait a second! What right to you have to talk to your Pokémon like that?!" she snapped.

"I am its master. I can do with this failure as I wish, and I wish to never see it again," Sheryl stared at her with an expression that showed that she did not fully understand the implications of her words.

"Do you know how selfish that is?!" Tomoko asked her. "Your Purrloin did its very best to please you and you're just throwing it out like that! A Trainer is supposed to stay by the side of the Pokémon that they lovingly raise!"

Sheryl raised an eyebrow and laughed incredulously. "Are you trying to tell me that you actually _keep_ the Pokémon that fail?"

"Yes! All Pokémon are important!" Tomoko began.

She was about to continue, but she was cut off as a familiar voice shouted out from the stands. She looked towards the noise and saw Misaki standing up in the stands, pointing at Sheryl with a smirk on her face. She let out a laugh.

"Look at that, everybody! The little girl can't even accept that it was her fault that she lost!" She turned towards Purrloin as the audience began to chuckle. "You did your best, Purrloin! Purrloin! Purrloin!" she chanted as Seedot and Wingull jumped up and down on the railings in front of her seat, cheering.

Soon, the whole crowd broke out of its silence and started chanting the name of the losing Pokémon. Purrloin raised its head, wiping away a tear that had come dangerously close to trickling down its face. Sniffing, it turned towards Sheryl, only to see an infuriated look on her face.

Suddenly, Sheryl took out her Poké Ball and held it out. A smile covered Purrloin's face as it saw the Poké Ball and it stepped forward, ready to be sucked inside. Tomoko sighed at the sight, relieved that Sheryl was going to keep her Pokémon and hoped that she would learn to take better care of Purrloin.

What happened next, no one expected. Sheryl removed the ball capsule from the ball and simply threw the Poké Ball to the ground before walking away, her capsule and seals in hand.

The chanting of the audience slowed to a stop as Purrloin rushed forward, grabbing its Poké Ball as it went. It stood at the edge of the stage and let out a cry as it watched the retreating form of its Coordinator. Tomoko lowered her head. It had been done. Purrloin had been released. There was very little that she could do now that Sheryl had made up her mind.

"Purr! Purrloin!" The Pokémon let out another desperate cry before falling to its knees on the stage as its Coordinator walked around the corner without looking back.

With a sigh, Tomoko walked up behind the cat-like Pokémon and stood behind it. Bending down, she patted it on the head, causing it to turn around. Reaching into her pocket, she removed a tissue and dried its tears.

"Come on, now. Don't cry," she muttered, picking the Pokémon up in her arms and silently walking off the stage. "Things will be better for you from now on..."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Tomoko vs Enid - The Finals

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Tomoko sighed as she returned to the waiting room. Her semi-final round had gone past in little more than a flash. She had no idea how she'd managed to pass all of the Battle Rounds up until then, but she had managed.

In the meantime, Enid had been looking after the abandoned Purrloin, having been taking turns to take care of it as each Coordinator left to participate in the Contest when they were called. In between, they both sat around with the Purrloin, stroking it and generally wondering what to do with it. It currently lay curled up on Enid's knees, having cried itself to sleep quite a while before. It's Poké Ball lay on the bench beside Enid.

Looking around as she headed over to Enid, she took notice of all the occasional sympathetic glances that had been shot at the Pokémon every so often since the events that had transpired earlier that day. After all, its partner had just left and hadn't returned. Even the hardest of hearts couldn't help but feel sorry for it.

Of course, no one was all that surprised, either. Having been watching their potential opponents fight on the TV, they had heard everything. The girl was from Gearia. Had it been a poorer girl from Gearia, they might have been more shocked. The rich treated Pokémon as tools used to make more money and gain more fame and the poor would defend their partners with their life, having little more than their friends and partners to trust in and get them through the day. That was the general rule of Gearia. Thus, it came as no surprise that the girl would have thought so little of her partner, despite how much the Pokémon thought of her.

Sitting down beside Enid, Tomoko took a moment to marvel at how Gastly was behaving. It was actually behaving well and treating Purrloin kindly. It made Tomoko think much more highly of the Ghost-type. Maybe Enid was right. Its heart was definitely in the right place... if it had one, that was... She wasn't exactly sure about the anatomy of the Ghost-type and didn't intend on finding out...

She reached over and stroked Purrloin's fur, startling Enid who had been focused on the feline on her knees. She looked up and smiled at Tomoko in a silent greeting and a congratulations on her victory before looking back at the bundle of fur on her knees, its chest rising and falling rhythmically as it slept, letting out a quiet cry every so often as it dreamed.

Tomoko frowned. "Hey, Enid... Why is everyone still here?" she asked, looking around at the people in the waiting room. "We're the only ones in the finals, aren't we?"

Enid looked around. "I believe that it is tradition, here... Sticking around to congratulate the victors is polite..." Enid mused.

Tomoko nodded in understanding before the sound of an opening door reached her. She turned to see a familiar redhead enter the room and walk over to them, a solemn smile on her face. She turned to Tomoko, her smile brightening slightly.

"Congratulations on winning, Tomoko," she told her quietly, making sure to not disturb the sleeping Pokémon.

"Thanks. Oh!" Tomoko came to the realisation that Misaki and Enid had not been introduced yet and gestured to the redhead. "Enid, this is Misaki. She came here with me today."

"It's nice to meet you... I'm Enid..." Enid held her hand out which Misaki took, shaking it gently in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, too," she responded.

"Misaki," Tomoko spoke up, attempting to get Misaki's attention. "Could you please check Purrloin out with your Pokédex?"

Without another word, Misaki pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it at Purrloin, eager to check the Pokémon out. The Pokédex slid open and, after scanning the Purrloin, it began to speak in a feminine voice as Purrloin's image popped up on the screen.

**"Purrloin, the Devious Pokémon. Purrloin fools people into letting their guard down so it can steal their possessions. When angered, it uses its claws to fight back."**

Misaki pressed the screen, prompting the Pokédex to continue as more information popped up on the screen regarding Purrloin. **"Moves: Scratch, Growl and Feint Attack. This Purrloin is female."**

"Wait... Feint Attack..." Tomoko pondered. "That's a Dark-type move, isn't it?" she asked the two girls. "Dark-type moves are super effective against Psychic-type Pokémon like Solosis."

"Then, it was the Coordinator's fault for not allowing Purrloin to use its full potential..." Enid told them, rubbing her chin in thought.

"So... Purrloin could have won if that Sheryl girl had only told it to use Feint Attack?" Misaki inquired.

Tomoko nodded, verifying it. "Feint Attack is a move that never misses and, as a Dark-type move, it would have inflicted quite a lot of damage to Solosis. We might have even lost."

"It sounds like a powerful move... What happens to Purrloin now, anyway?" Misaki frowned.

"I'm not sure," Tomoko told her.

"We could take it to the Pokémon Center after the Concert is over... Maybe Nurse Joy would know what to do..." Enid sighed as Purrloin yawned and sat up, stretching, looking around itself with a forlorn expression.

"There's not much else we can do, is there?" Tomoko asked with a sigh. She turned to Misaki. "Misaki. Would you please look after Purrloin and take it to the stands with you when we're called for the final round?" she begged.

"Sure! Seedot and Wingull would love to have Purrloin with them! It can help cheer you two on!" Misaki chimed as Purrloin walked over to sniff the new arrival. Misaki gave it a pat on the head and bent down to its level. "Is that OK, Purrloin?"

"Purr," Purrloin nodded, agreeing halfheartedly as Misaki picked up its Poké Ball. It didn't mind Misaki. Not if the other two people who had been so nice to it approved of her. It just wasn't in the mood to agree to anything wholeheartedly today. Not after being abandoned by its Coordinator.

It leapt into her arms and, after Misaki gave a final wave to the two girls, they left heading back towards the stands just as the final match was announced.

Tomoko and Enid stood up and began to walk out, many people in the room wishing them and their Pokémon luck or clapping them on the back, each one having taken their loss graciously and with a huge smile on their face. It was a nice change compared to how Sheryl had behaved.

They soon got to the split in the hallway where they recalled their Pokémon, ready for battle. Words weren't needed. Both turned to each other, their expressions determined, and simply nodded. All would be said in the battle without words. Without a sound, they both turned away and walked down the hall, finally ending up at the curtains that led onto the stage.

Tomoko looked down at her Poké Ball and whispered softly to the creature inside it. "Alright, Solosis. I might not be 100% with Ghost-types, but I'll try not to let you down. Let's just get out there and do our best..." Her grip tightened around the Poké Ball and she walked up to the curtain in silence.

"Welcome, everyone, to the final round of the Aquarei Pokémon Contest!" Jillian announced as Tomoko stepped through the curtain and onto the bright stage. The audience all around her cheered in approval and, above the others, the sound of Seedot and Wingull cheering loudly could be heard along with loud, obnoxious cheering in a familiar voice that Tomoko did her best to block out. If Misaki was shouting that loudly, Tomoko had to feel sorry for the people that she was sitting beside.

Looking towards the curtains opposite of her, Tomoko watched as Enid stepped through the curtains, taking her place on the other side of the stage. Everything was ready. All Jillian had to do was finish relaying the rules and the match would begin. Her first victory was just within reach and she and Solosis were going to grab it.

"The winner of this match wins the Aquarei Ribbon! Are both of our contestants ready?" Jillian asked. Tomoko and Enid simply nodded and raised their Poké Balls in response. "Alright, then! Without further ado, let the final round of the Aquarei Pokémon Contest... begin!"

The response was instantaneous. Both Coordinators threw their Poké Balls up into the air, each shouting the names of their Pokémon and both Poké Balls burst open in their usual fashion, surrounding Solosis in vibrant sparkles and shrouding Gastly in black smoke, obscuring it from vision.

"Let's be quick about this, Gastly! Use Smog and grow!" Enid ordered as the smoke began to dissipate.

"Gaastly..." the Ghost-type grinned, spewing forth poisonous gases from its mouth which covered its side of the stage. As the gases became denser and Gastly was, once more, hidden from view, Tomoko quickly saw the red eyes that were leering out of the fog begin to grow larger and larger as the Pokémon giggled menacingly inside its shroud of smog.

Tomoko froze. It was just the same as the frightening act from before. The sound of Tomoko's points dropping echoed around the hall.

Trembling, she spoke up. "D-don't worry, Solosis...! W-we can do this...!" she stammered. Solosis simply nodded, holding its ground.

"Now, Gastly! Use Hypnosis!" Enid commanded.

The effect was widespread as Gastly's already-glowing eyes brightened, the light becoming harsh and all-encompassing. Tomoko's eyes widened as the realisation hit her. If she and Solosis didn't act now, Solosis would be put to sleep and Gastly would win. After all, it's Ghost-type attacks were super effective against Psychic-types like Solosis.

Tomoko balled her hands up into fists. "Don't look at it, Solosis! Close your eyes!"

Solosis, who had been in a sort of trance as it stared deep into Gastly's eyes, heard Tomoko's order and, with great effort, managed to turn its head away and close its eyes. With Solosis safe from Hypnosis, Tomoko paused, thinking about what to do against such a large opponent.

Suddenly, it struck her. She thought back to her time in the waiting room where she spoke to Enid for the first time. Enid had told her something regarding the technique that she was currently using. The technique... was only an illusion...!

"Solosis! Turn towards Gastly without opening your eyes and use Psywave!" Tomoko called.

Although confused, Solosis complied, sending forth a brilliant display of multicoloured psychic power which collided with the enlarged Gastly, knocking it backwards and dispelling some of the smoke, reducing Gastly's gargantuan size slightly and ending Hypnosis.

"What?!" Enid blurted out in surprise.

"You said it yourself!" Tomoko smirked, getting Enid's attention. "This trick is just that! A trick! An illusion! All you've done is make Gastly a bigger target to hit!"

Enid frowned. "... I see... Then... if Gastly has become a bigger to hit... there's also a larger chance that we'll hit you! You have less places to run!" She gestured to Solosis who had just opened its eyes, deeming it safe to. "Use Lick, Gastly!"

As Enid had said, it was harder to run away from the giant tongue that extended from Gastly's mouth. With its usual giggle, it caught Solosis, licking it with its' rough, wet tongue. Solosis froze, absolutely disgusted, giving Gastly the time to continue the onslaught of attacks, its' menacing giggling never ceasing. However, Tomoko saw a chance.

"Solosis! Use Reflect and then Psywave!" she called out.

Solosis immediately covered itself in a forcefield of blue light, almost completely repelling the next Lick attack and sent it barrelling away across the stage. Righting itself, it fired a powerful Psywave at Gastly, once again knocking it back and dispersing more of the smog, this time reducing its size drastically as much of the smog was blown away through the open roof in the resulting minor explosion from the attack. Gastly quickly became smaller, reaching its normals size as its source of poisonous gases disappeared.

Glancing at the points, Tomoko saw that her points had lowered to the halfway mark while Enid's was only half of that. She must have lowered Enid's points a lot for seeing through Gastly's illusion and counterattacking. However, Enid had caused her to lose a lot of points due to the fact that she used the illusion to her advantage and due to the onslaught of attacks.

"Gastly! Use Smog again!" Enid ordered.

"Don't let it! Use Psywave and blow it away!" Tomoko countered.

Just as Gastly began to, once more, spew forth poisonous gases, the familiar multicoloured psychic energy wave collided with the small ball of gas, blowing away the small amount of Smog that it had managed to create and threw Gastly to the floor. It floated back up almost immediately as the breeze from the open ceiling caught it, forcing it back into the air. It appeared to be getting tired as Enid's points dropped further.

"Use Psywave!" Tomoko suddenly shouted.

"Dodge and use Hypnosis!" Enid commanded.

Just as the multicoloured psychic energy was about to connect with Gastly, it completely disappeared, before quickly reappearing in front of Solosis, its eyes already glowing an eerie red colour. Within a few seconds, Solosis was slowly floating down to the ground, fast asleep. The halls fell into silence as if they were waiting to see if Solosis was going to wake up or not. Roughly 20 seconds passed before it became apparent that Solosis was not getting back up. It was also at that time that the pinging sound of the timer running out was heard.

Both Coordinators span around to face the screen, their faces full of hope. However, one of their faces was destined to fall at the sight of the board. One circle was half filled with black and the other was 3/4 full. Both trainers sighed, one in relief and one in defeat.

Tomoko... had lost...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Past

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Tomoko slumped down on the bench in the Pokémon Center in her normal clothes with a healed Solosis in her arms, letting out a loud groan of disappointment as she did so. Misaki, who still held Purrloin, sat down beside her. Purrloin crawled out of her arms and sat between the two girls as Seedot and Wingull crowded around them. Instead of sitting, Enid stood with Gastly floating beside her.

"Are you alright?" Misaki asked, placing a hand on Tomoko's shoulder. Tomoko shrugged.

"I suppose so. There's nothing that can be done about it. Enid won fair and square. I'll just have to get stronger. After all, there are plenty more opportunities," she sighed. "There's no point in dwelling on it."

Enid let out a loud sigh, drawing everyone's attention to her. Noticing their confused glances, Enid clarified for them. "I was worried that Tomoko may have resented me for winning…"

"Resent you? Why would I resent you? You were better than me and deserved to win. There's nothing wrong with that. I just means that I wasn't ready to win and I need to try harder," Tomoko explained.

"It's probably the best thing that could have happened to you!" Misaki cheered happily, earning a pout from Tomoko.

"Why is that?" Tomoko inquired quietly.

"Well, now you have someone to catch up and ensure that you keep growing stronger…" She trailed off, a thought growing her head. "Like a rival!"

"… A rival… That sounds nice…" Enid smiled.

"Then, it's settled! We'll be rivals!" Tomoko grinned, standing up as Solosis floated away. She offered Enid a hand. The priestess took it, the smile never once leaving her face.

"I won't let you get ahead, in that case…" Enid told her.

Tomoko suddenly frowned as she stared at Enid. "Aren't you going to change back into your normal clothes, Enid?" she inquired.

"Oh… This…?" Enid asked, letting go of Tomoko's hand and gesturing to her clothes. Tomoko nodded. "These are my normal clothes… I'm a trainee priestess from Phouk Village…"

"A trainee priestess? What does a priestess actually do?" Misaki quizzed.

"It is the job of a priestess to send off the souls of the dead, whether they be human or Pokémon… However, I must also travel and learn about different people and Pokemon and the world that we live in in order to fully comprehend the dead… I enjoy Contests and I'm participating in them as I travel…" she explained.

"You send off the souls of the dead? Does that mean that you talk to all of them?" Tomoko asked.

"Just the lingering ones… The ones who find it difficult to pass on… We find out what is bothering them and help them with it to pass… However, since that day… there have been many lingering souls…" Enid trailed off.

"'That day?'" Misaki echoed.

Enid nodded sadly. "The massacre all those years ago…" she elaborated.

"You mean… the Outsan Massacre…?" Tomoko asked, her voice instinctively lowering. Enid nodded, her expression serious. Misaki didn't move, her face becoming unreadable.

Noticing her expression, Enid spoke up. "Are you alright…?" she inquired.

Her expression never changing, Misaki responded quietly. "They never caught them, did they…? You know… The ones who destroyed my village…"

Enid's expression softened. "I'm sorry… I don't think they did…"

Misaki watched Tomoko out of the corner of her eye as the other girl began to put the pieces together. While she did not seem sympathetic, she certainly seemed regretful for having mentioned it.

"You said that a lot of people were still here... Would it possible for me to see anyone if I went to your village…?" Misaki asked quietly. Enid nodded.

"Possibly. Spirits can make themselves visible to whoever they please and in whatever form they please. It would depend on whoever you wanted to see," Enid informed her.

Misaki nodded quietly and silence quickly descended over the small group. Eventually, Misaki broke the silence. "I'm going back to our room for a while…" No one protested as she left, her two Pokémon following behind her, both looking worried.

Misaki made her way down the peach-tiled halls with white wallpaper, her shoes softly patting against the tiles in the almost-empty corridor, passing a doctor or nurse every so often and once passing Audino who was wheeling an empty stretcher at a leisurely pace as the young girl headed to the residential area of the large building. The pitter-patter sounds of Seedot toddling after her and the clicking of Wingull's talons on the floor as it hopped along echoed quietly in the hallway until they reached the carpeted residential area.

Locating her room, she walked inside and shut the door after letting the Pokémon inside. Flopping down on the bed, she sighed, her thoughts running a mile a minute. She closed her eyes and became lost in her thoughts.

'If I go to Phouk Village… maybe I could see them again… Of course, there's a chance that they aren't there… Maybe they've all moved on…' she thought.

She suddenly opened her eyes, having been snapped out of her train of thought by the sound of the door clicking open. Sitting up, she registered Tomoko standing in the doorway with a sheepish grin, almost as if she was apologising for disturbing her. She looked slightly dishevelled and sweaty allowing Misaki to come to the conclusion that she had most likely ran across the building instead of walking at Misaki's slow pace.

"Sorry… Are you alright…?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah… I… Uh… I just needed to think…" Misaki told her, her voice quiet.

"Do you… want to talk about it…?" Tomoko frowned.

"… Maybe…" Misaki sighed.

Tomoko and Solosis entered the room, closing the door with a quiet click behind them. Tomoko walked across the carpeted room and sat down on the bed beside Misaki who opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly, she seemed to realise something and reached for her bag which lay tossed haphazardly beside her bed. Tomoko watched as she took out a picture frame. Sitting up, Misaki handed the item to her new friend.

Tomoko looked down at it, instantly recognising Misaki in the form of a young child. The girl in question reached over and pointed at each of the people in turn. "That's Daddy, that's Mummy and that's my big brother, Diggory. I call him Diggy... They aren't around anymore…" she trailed off.

Tomoko swallowed heavily. "… Was it -" She was cut off by a nod from Misaki.

"When I was 4 years old, a group of people marched through the village. I'm not sure what it was about. Only the village elder, Mr Shannon, went out to ask them what they wanted. Whatever it was, it was something important, so the village wouldn't hand it over… Mummy, Diggory and I were hiding in the house and Daddy went out to fight them off…" She unwillingly gave herself over to her thoughts.

_Flashback…_

"_Mummy! Where did Daddy go?" asked a young redheaded girl as she huddled in the corner of a white-walled, wooden-floored room between the wall, a tall lamp and an old brown armchair, nestled in the arms of her shaking redheaded mother alongside her brother who remained composed. Outside, the sounds of shouting and Pokémon cries could be heard and the floor was bathed in orange light as embers slowly floated past the window, covering the glass with soot as the smell of smoke drifted under the door and down the chimney._

"_Dad's being a hero! There are bad guys and he's gonna fight them off!" the boy exclaimed loudly and dramatically as if to reassure his little sister as he wiped some of the collecting soot off of his white t-shirt and black trousers. Shaking his head quickly, a shower of soot that was clinging to his mop of brown hair was suddenly thrown loose, causing his sister to laugh and attempt to do the same, her simple white dress collecting the soot in a similar manner to her brother's shirt. She noted that her mother's pale yellow dress wasn't much better._

"_Shh…" their mother soothed. "Not so loud…"_

"_Yeah, Diggy! We're right beside you!" the girl giggled, missing the point._

"_Misaki…! Diggory…! Hush…!" their mother frowned. Giggling again, the girl snuggled up against her mother, acting as though the whole thing was a game. The boy pouted, wondering why he was getting in trouble for his sister's outburst._

_Suddenly, the shouting drew closer and the door slammed open, allowing a brown-haired, brown-eyed man wearing blue overalls, black shoes and a white, long-sleeved shirt to stumble through the door, a small, white Pokémon that sat upon a yellow flower following closely behind. They both panted heavily, having been injured in the battle against the invaders._

"_Hotaru…" the man panted as he stared into his wife's greyish-blue eyes before briefly darting between all three of the family members._

"_Tristan! What's going on out there?! Who's winning?!" she hissed quietly in a worried tone._

_Tristan walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulder. "Listen, dear. Take the children upstairs," he ordered._

"_Why?! What about you?!" Hotaru asked frantically, raising her voice._

"_No. Listen. Take them upstairs. I'll stay down here and hold them off with Flabébé," he told her, his voice low and serious._

_To his surprise, with a defiant look, Hotaru turned around and addressed her eldest child. "Diggory. Take your sister upstairs. Don't come down, no matter what."_

"_Don't be selfish! You need to stay with the children! What will they do if -" he was cut off._

"_I need to stay with you, too! The children will be fine and so will I!" she snapped as Diggory complied, ushering his sister up the stairs and making sure that she went up first. Their voices became muffled to the two children as they headed further up the staircase._

"_Come on, Misaki. You go up first," he smiled, his voice suddenly sounding awfully quiet and tired. Misaki gave him a confused expression. "We'll race!" he declared, suddenly getting an idea. "First one to Mum and Dad's bedroom wins!"_

"_OK!" Misaki cheered before running off with Diggory behind her, running slowly and allowing her to win. They eventually burst into the wooden-floored, white-walled and sparsely decorated room that was furnished only with a wardrobe, a bed that was covered with a colourful handmade quilt and some wooden drawers._

_Misaki gave out a cheer of happiness at her victory, but she was quickly hushed by her brother who had shut the heavy wooden door behind them with a quiet click. "Now, we're going to play hide and seek, OK? We're not allowed to leave the room, though and, no matter what happens, you can't come out unless I find you," he grinned nervously._

"_OK! I'll hide!" Misaki automatically declared, not wishing to be 'it.' "Close your eyes!"_

"_Alright! Alright! I'll count to 20!" Diggory told her. He turned around and, covering his eyes, he began to count. "1, 2, 3…"_

_As he counted, Misaki stumbled around the room, looking for a hiding place. Quickly spotting the wardrobe, she made a beeline for it, opening the heavy wooden doors and climbing inside, she shut them with an audible thud and giggled at her own ingenuity. She heard her brother's counting stop and heard the shuffle of his feet as he looked around the room._

"_Oh, dear…" he called out dramatically. She could almost imagine her big brother shrugging his shoulders. "It appears that naughty little Misaki has left the room… I'm going to have to look for her! Oh, well! If she _is _in this room, I hope that she comes out soon! If she doesn't, I may _never_ find her! Oh, what will our parents say if I lose her?"_

_Misaki giggled again in her hiding place. She _definitely _wasn't coming out, now, no matter what happened. She heard her brother open the door and walk out. He didn't have time for anything else as two bangs were heard downstairs and two sets of footsteps could be heard making their way up the stairs. Ignoring the bangs and presuming that it was their parents, she opened the door slightly to take a look, hoping with childish glee that Diggory would get in trouble for losing her._

"_Get out of our house…" Diggory mumbled, his voice barely audible as he addressed the two people standing in the hall._

"_Don't bother with him. Let's just find what we're looking for and get out of here," a feminine voice grunted in irritation._

"_Whatever we're looking for probably isn't in a place like this, anyway. If this kid's all that's left, we should leave," a man agreed._

_Misaki frowned. She didn't recognise the voices of these people. Was there someone bad in their house? She was about to climb out of the wardrobe to help Diggory, but, as she placed her tiny hands on the door, her brother spoke again._

"_What do you mean?" Diggory asked, suddenly sounding breathless. "I'm all that's left?"_

"_Let's just get out of here!" the woman snapped._

_Misaki witnessed her brother's face grow fiercer by the second, a low, angry growl emanating from his throat. The little girl in the wardrobe froze, unable to believe that this was what her brother. She had never seen him like this._

_Suddenly, Diggory launched himself forwards with furious, unintelligible cry, baring his teeth as if he was prepared to rip the intruders to shreds. With a grunt from the male intruder, he was thrown back and the man stepped into Misaki's line of sight, his face hidden behind a black peaked hat. Nothing he wore was marked with any defining features. The woman remained hidden._

_Something flashed, glinting in the orange light of the embers outside the window as it was removed from its holster. The man gave an angry shout. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" he roared._

_**Bang!**_

_**Thud!**_

_Misaki jumped backwards in shock at the deafening and unexpected noise. "It's alright. We have that Pokémon, anyway. It's weak, but it'll train up strong with a bit of… persuading…"_

_With that, they began to walk away, the woman's footsteps appearing to be hesitant. Misaki didn't waste any time as she leapt out of the wardrobe and ran over to her brother. She was aware that the two intruders had turned around. She was aware that they had seen her face, but she didn't care._

_As she stood beside Diggory, noting the blood flowing freely from his chest, a hoarse whisper escaped her throat. "… Diggy…?"_

_It was all over…_

_Flashback end…_

"I ended up living with Fintan's family after that… That's why I'm so worried about him…" Misaki smiled ruefully, turning away from the photo and looking at Tomoko. "He's my adoptive big brother, after all…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Training

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

Tomoko slowly nodded as Misaki finished her tale with a sigh. There was a moment of deafening silence where not even the Pokémon dared to move before Misaki decided to speak again, her tone one of acceptance.

"There's nothing I can do, anyway. In fact, this is good. If I can get to Phouk Village, maybe my parents and my brother will be there. Maybe I can get some answers about that day," Misaki told Tomoko, her expression one of determination.

"Answers? You mean like what Fintan wanted?" Tomoko asked.

"Yeah, but what we want is different. He wants revenge and I want to bring them to justice," Misaki informed her.

"But you had so much taken from you that day. Why wouldn't you want revenge? Why does Fintan want it?" Tomoko quizzed.

"Well… Fintan suffered a terrible loss that day, too… Three, actually…" Misaki began. She suddenly shook her head. "I shouldn't say… It's not anyone's business but his…"

"… I understand…" Tomoko finally sighed.

"Anyway, I have something I need to do and I need you to help me do it," Misaki suddenly grinned. "I need to train for my Gym battle. Tomoko… will you battle me?"

"Sure! It'll allow Solosis and I need to practice as well!" Tomoko exclaimed as she stood up. Solosis drifted away from her as she did so.

"But… there's one problem… I have two Pokémon and you only have one. How will we train both…?" Misaki inquired with a frown.

"… Maybe we should ask Enid. We could make this a Double Battle if she helped us!" Tomoko responded after a few seconds.

"Seed! Seedot!" Seedot suddenly cried excitedly as it jumped up and down, its' tiny legs wiggling as it jumped. Wingull and Solosis soon joined with the excited cries.

"Wingull! Wing! Wingull!"

"Sol! Sol! Solosis!"

With quick nods, the girls and their Pokémon walked out of the door and set off down the now-familiar white-walled, green-carpeted hallways. Upon reaching the pink-tiled area, the scent of antiseptic and disinfectant hit them before slowly fading as they neared the reception.

Upon reaching reception, however, there was no one to be seen save for Purrloin who had curled up on the bench, waiting for them. They walked over to the cat-like Pokémon and Tomoko bent down to its' level.

"Where did Enid go, Purrloin?" she asked it.

"Purr…" the Pokémon responded, gesturing towards the front desk. Just then, Nurse Joy returned to the reception. She must have left to take care of a Pokémon, they supposed. Noticing them, she waved them over.

"Oh! You two were with Enid, weren't you? She told me to tell you that she had to leave! She got a very important phone call!" Nurse Joy called. Both of them headed towards the desk.

"Did she say where she was going?" Misaki inquired as they reached Nurse Joy.

The nurse frowned and shook her head. "I'm sorry. She didn't. By the way that she was heading, though, I think she was leaving town," she told them as she pointed east.

Tomoko turned towards the direction that Nurse Joy was pointing. "That's towards Fae Valley, isn't it?" she asked.

Joy nodded and pressed a button on her desk. A map of the region on a large screen dropped down. "Yes, it is. Fae Valley is further inland than Aquarei Town. The largest side of the valley is known as Mt. Sprite, the smallest mountain in the region. The valley, itself, is full of Fairy-type Pokémon. Faeria Town also lies in the valley bottom. The second recommended Gym for new Trainers is in that town just as the first recommended Gym is here," she explained.

"The second Gym… That'll be where Fintan and I will be heading next…!" Misaki exclaimed almost breathlessly as excitement took over her. She reached up and began to fiddle with her headband as Tomoko smirked at her.

"For goodness sake… Beat this Gym first, will you?!" she laughed.

"Yeah, yeah… I get it…" Misaki blushed in embarrassment, having realised that she was getting ahead of herself.

The two girls stood back from the desk as someone entered the Pokémon Center, obviously intending to speak to Nurse Joy. Misaki crossed her arms and took on a look of concentration as Purrloin jumped off the bench and approached them.

"What are we going to do, now?" she asked. "If Enid isn't here, we can't train both of my Pokémon."

"We just need another Pokémon to spar with us. Maybe there's somewhere around here where I can catch one… Oh! Yeah! We could go down to the beach and I could catch something there! I saw some Krabby down there the last time we went!"

"Purrloin! Purr!" Purrloin called out, trying to get their attention from the floor. They didn't hear it as they continued to plan.

"Yeah! If you had something that can fight on land -" Misaki was cut off by Purrloin.

"PURR!" it shouted loudly.

Startled, both girls glanced down at the purple feline which appeared to take a fighting stance the moment that it was noticed, its' paws bunched up in front of its' face in determination as it stared deep into Tomoko's eyes. It made no noise as if it was waiting for Tomoko to understand.

"… You want to fight alongside me, don't you…?" Tomoko finally asked after a few seconds, her tone one of disbelief.

"Purrloin! Purr!" It nodded, a smirk appearing on its' face.

"That's great!" Misaki grinned. "Thanks Purrloin!"

"Purr!" Purrloin smiled.

"There's an area for battles that Trainers are free to use!" Nurse Joy suddenly called towards them as she walked away with a Trainer's Poké Balls, reading to check the Pokémon inside. "It's behind the Pokémon Center if you're interested!"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Tomoko called back.

Before any of them could say anything else, the excited Pokémon had already exited the Pokémon Center with enthusiastic cries, each and every one of them raring to go. It wasn't long before their Trainers had followed them out through the front door and down the path that was paved with grey bricks and was lined with trees and bushes in flowerbeds which lay up against a large red brick wall. After exiting the narrow path that lay between the Pokémon Center and the wall, they came upon a large battlefield that was marked out in an area that was very similar in appearance to the path that they had just walked down.

To their surprise, the Pokémon were already ready, so it was simply a matter of their Trainers getting into position and giving them a command. The two girls didn't waste any time in standing on their respective sides of the field after seeing the determination and excitement on the faces of their Pokémon.

"I'll give you the first move! You're the one that's battling the Gym Leader, after all!" Tomoko shouted from her side of the field as she attempted to recall Purrloin's moves.

"Alright, then! Seedot, use Harden! Wingull, use Water Gun on Purrloin!" she ordered.

Both Pokémon complied. Seedot simply moved its' feet, entering a position that meant that it would be harder to knock over. The sun glinted off of its' harder-looking body as the move raised its' Defence.

Wingull, on the other hand, let out a loud cry. "Wing!" it shouted as it flew up, its' mouth filling with water. It reared back and, with a cry of, "Gull!" it let out a blast of water in the direction of Purrloin.

"Dodge it, Purrloin, and use Scratch! Solosis, use Psywave on Seedot!" Tomoko suddenly commanded.

Purrloin deftly flipped out of the way, its' claws elongating as it did so. It landed behind Wingull and raised them just as Solosis fired off its' usual multi-coloured wave of energy. Misaki quickly reacted. She gestured towards the Pokémon in front of her.

"Quick! Use Bide, Seedot! Dodge it, Wingull, and use Water Gun!"

Light began to emanate from Seedot's body, slowly growing in intensity as Psywave struck it, causing it to slide back a few feet from the force. It still managed to stand firm while Wingull nimbly dodged the Scratch attack and delivered a blow with Water Gun, causing Purrloin to be thrown to the ground with a yelp.

"Get back up and use Feint Attack, Purrloin! Solosis, use Psywave again! We're going to take Seedot down before it has a chance to use Bide!" Tomoko told them.

"Sol!" Solosis yelled as it began to fire off Psywave after Psywave which connected with Seedot, heavily damaging it and pushing it back further. However, the light that was growing around it was beginning to get harsher and harsher until, finally, a large wave of light was released, slamming into Solosis before either it or Tomoko could react. It was knocked to the ground, sustaining heavy damage. It floated back up, panting as heavily as Seedot was as it tottered on its' feet.

Purrloin, on the other hand, was staring Wingull down, watching for an opportunity to attack. Suddenly, Wingull looked away slightly, distracted as the bright light hit one of their opponents. Seeing an opportunity, Purrloin struck quickly, scratching its' opponent several times in the face, causing it to take a few steps back, reeling in pain and finding it slightly difficult to see.

"Don't let them get to you! Use Bullet Seed on Solosis, Seedot! Wingull, use Water Gun on Purrloin!" Misaki ordered.

Suddenly, Seedot began to rapidly fire seeds at Solosis in quick succession while Wingull fired off a Water Gun. As both were rapidly hurtling towards their opponents, Tomoko was quick to act as she gestured towards her Pokémon.

"Solosis, use Psywave to block the Bullet Seed! Push through and hit Seedot! Purrloin, dodge and use Feint Attack!" Tomoko commanded.

Solosis fired off its' attack which connected with the Bullet Seed, creating a shower of pretty sparkles which were blown out on all sides in large amounts as the Psywave slowly began to dissipate. However, much to the shock of Tomoko and Solosis, Psywave began to die down. Bullet Seed, however, did not have that limitation. It soon broke through the psychic energy, striking Solosis and knocking the exhausted Pokémon down, unconscious.

Meanwhile, Purrloin had dodged the attack and was in the air behind Wingull. Before the startled Pokémon could react, Purrloin quickly scratched its' opponent over and over again, knocking the weakened Pokémon to the ground.

"Wing…" it cried weakly, trying to get up. However, it soon collapsed, sending up a small cloud of dust as it hit the ground.

Both Trainers recalled their Pokémon. Deciding not to dwell on the outcome of their battles, their next attacks were immediately called out. Misaki took a step forwards, fiddling with her headband, her expression determined.

"Seedot, lets finish this with Bullet Seed!" she commanded.

"Dodge it and use Feint Attack!" Misaki told it.

Just as Seedot's Bullet Seed was about to hit Purrloin, it managed to dive out of the way and run towards the defenceless, tired Seedot, furiously attacking it with its' claws, knocking it out as Seedot failed to stop its' attack and turn around in time.

With a disappointed sigh, Misaki walked onto the field to pick Seedot up and console it on its' loss. However, before either girl could say anything, they were brought out of their thoughts by… someone clapping…


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Mortimer

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

The two girls quickly turned around in an attempt to locate the source of the clapping. Their eyes soon fell on a man who had emerged from the shadows of the Pokémon Center. He had obviously been watching their battle.

He was tall and well-built. Short dark brown hair lay underneath a fisherman's hat that was covered in fishing lures of all shapes, sizes and colours. More lures hung from the pockets of his light brown fishing shirt. His light brown trousers and black Wellington boots were covered in sand that he had neglected to brush off and a red fishing rod with a red lure attached to it was slung over his shoulder, still damp from his fishing trip. A wide, friendly smile covered his face.

"Good job, girls! You've trained your Pokémon well!" he cheered in a deep voice, continuing to clap, opening his chocolate brown eyes.

"Um… I'm sorry, but… who are you…?" Misaki asked as she stood up. Both girls approached the man as he gave out a hearty laugh.

"I'm sorry! I've neglected to introduce myself!" He held out a hand, shaking each of the girl's hands in turn. "I'm Mortimer! I'm the Gym Leader of this town!" he boomed, never once letting his voice reduce in volume. Misaki, however, didn't care. Her face lit up.

"The Gym Leader?! I was planning on challenging you!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Really, now? I'll look forward to that!" He laughed again. Suddenly, he paused. "This is your first Gym battle by the looks of things, is it not?" he asked her.

Misaki nodded. "Yeah! I wanna take on the Pokémon League!"

"Hahahaha! I like that determination!" he laughed. "I'll tell you what. Since I've seen your Pokémon, it's only fair that you see mine, especially because this is your first Gym battle!"

The man raised his Poké Balls before Misaki could say anything. However, he then paused before taking on a slightly embarrassed and depressed look moments later. He sighed and lowered them before grinning again.

"You don't want to see them, do you?" he asked, his voice quiet for once.

Misaki smiled and shook her head. "I would rather leave that for the battle. I don't want you to go easy on me by showing them to me," Misaki told him.

With a sigh, Mortimer put away the red and white capsules. "Then, you'll just have to look forward to seeing them in battle."

Suddenly, Nurse Joy emerged from the path beside the Pokémon Center. She called over to Mortimer with a wave to gain his attention. "Mortimer! We just received a phone call from the Gym! You are to return immediately!" she smiled.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Mortimer gave her a lopsided grin before turning back to the girls in front of him. "Good luck and it was nice to meet you both!" He gave a wave before turning his back on them and walking away with another hearty laugh.

"He was nice!" Misaki told Tomoko.

Tomoko frowned. "Why? What did you expect him to be like?"

"I don't know… Just… not as nice, I suppose. I think I expected him to be more serious," Misaki responded.

"They're not all like that. But… we should probably have Nurse Joy take a look at our Pokémon. They're really tired," Tomoko informed her.

Misaki nodded, looking down at the unconscious Seedot in her arms. "Yeah. We shouldn't make them wait any longer. Let's go." Both of them began to walk back to the front of the Pokémon Center, readying their Poké Balls for Nurse Joy.

_The next day…_

"I can't wait anymore…" Misaki complained as she shovelled down more cereal.

"But, you lost to me yesterday. Maybe you should try to improve, first," Tomoko reasoned.

"But the Gym Leader is a Water-type Trainer! I have Seedot! I'll be fine!" Misaki suddenly shouted.

Tomoko sighed. "Alright. Whatever you want. Don't say I didn't warn you, though."

"Awesome! I'm going straight after breakfast… What do you guys think?" Misaki asked her Pokémon which sat on the floor.

"Seedot!" the acorn-like Pokémon cheered, standing up and jumping up and down on the spot.

"Wing! Wingull!" the seagull-like Pokémon joined in.

"That settles it!" Misaki exclaimed, lifting up the bowl and draining it. She slammed it down on the table, recalled Wingull and got up, dragging Tomoko by the arm.

"Wait! I haven't finished my breakfast yet!" Tomoko protested as Solosis and Purrloin followed her.

_Later…_

"Hello! I'd like to challenge the Gym, please!" Misaki shouted at the large, sturdy Gym doors.

It was about a minute before they opened and a young man stepped out. He wore a simple white t-shirt with a single pocket and sky blue shorts. A mop of brown hair fell over his head in thick, wet strands and his grey eyes peered out from behind a pair of thick black glasses. He wasn't wearing any shoes and his clothes looked soaked in places.

"Ah! Are you two challengers?" he asked as he adjusted his glasses.

Misaki stepped forward. "Um… Yes… I'm here to battle the Gym Leader…" she informed him, suddenly less enthusiastic now that the Gym had opened before her.

"That's great! Mortimer hasn't gotten any challengers, lately. He'll be excited to see that he has one, now," the man grinned. "Please follow me." Without another word, they began to follow him through the long corridors. Eventually, the man turned back towards them. "Sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Greg. I take care of the Pokémon here and referee the matches."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Misaki," she introduced herself.

"I'm Tomoko," Tomoko followed.

"So, you take care of the Pokémon. What kinds of things do you do?" Misaki asked, attempting to strike up a conversation.

"I go into the tanks and play with and feed them when Mortimer isn't available. He's a busy man and is almost constantly training. He can't leave his Pokémon unattended, though. That's why I'm here. I double as a referee, as well. I was just in one of the smaller, shallower tanks when you called, so I'm a little wet. Sorry about that," Greg chuckled.

"That sounds like a really cool job. You get to be with Pokémon all day and watch awesome battles as well," Misaki smiled dreamily, almost as if she was imagining herself in such a job.

"Well, playing with the Pokémon is always a good time. They love people. The battles are good, too, but it's a hard job," Greg told them as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"How is it hard? It sounds fun," Tomoko frowned.

"Well, it requires a lot of concentration and it's a lot of pressure to make the right calls. I've accidentally almost made a few bad calls, myself," Greg sighed.

"Bad calls?" Misaki inquired.

"Basically, it's calling a match incorrectly, like saying that a Pokémon is unable to battle when it's still OK to fight on. Sometimes, it's really difficult to tell. I mean, they could be unmoving and facing in the opposite direction so you can't see its face. It's difficult to know in cases like that," Greg elaborated.

"Do things like that happen often?" Tomoko asked.

"It only happens sometimes. Usually, it's pretty obvious. We have to wait for a certain amount of time before we call it, though. It usually works out OK," he told them.

"What happens if it's accidentally called incorrectly?" Misaki quizzed.

"If it becomes apparent that the Pokémon can still fight, the verdict is recalled and the match resumes."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Tomoko stated.

"It's bad for the Gym's reputation, though. It displays a form of incompetence. Sometimes, it's even viewed as an attempt at rigging the match on the part of the Gym Leader and it may require intervention from the League if the challenging Trainer insists on it. The most important thing when it happens, though, is to not panic. That shows even more incompetence." Suddenly, Greg was distracted. "Oh! I forgot! You'll be able to see the tanks down this hallway."

"You mean… we'll be able to see all of the Gym Leader's Pokémon?" Misaki asked excitedly.

"Yeah! They're right over there."

Greg pointed towards an area that was illuminated with blue light in the hallway, the light coming from the walls. Passing a door in either wall which the two girls presumed to be for accessing the tanks, they soon came upon two massive aquarium-like tanks that had been built into the walls with a large space at the top so that the Pokémon could poke their heads out to get better looks at the Trainers.

The two girls looked around themselves at all the Pokémon, unable to believe the sheer amount of Water-type Pokémon that surrounded them. There were Finneon, Lumineon, Golduck, Remoraid, Mantyke, Mantine, Magikarp, Feebas, Shellder, Cloyster and any other Water-type Pokémon that the girls could think of.

The girls looked up as a Pokémon swam to the top and stuck its' head out of the tank. "Upah!" it cried excitedly as it smiled widely at them.

"It's so cute!" Tomoko exclaimed as Misaki removed her Pokédex and pointed it at the Pokémon.

"What are you…?" she asked herself rather than anyone else. The Pokédex slid open and spoke in a robotic, feminine voice.

** "Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. Though they prefer to live in cold water, these appealing Pokémon forage for food on land. They are kept warm by a layer of insulating body fluid. Wooper is the pre-evolved form of Quagsire."**

"I've never seen so many Water-types in one place…" Tomoko stated.

"Our Gym also doubles as an aquarium… or, it will, anyway… That part hasn't opened for the public yet. The only people who see this are the Trainers who come here to challenge the Gym. Mortimer is in the process of building more of these. Oh! Look! We'd been expecting this for a while!" Greg suddenly pointed towards a corner of the tank where a lone Feebas had been swimming. However, the Pokémon had paused where it was swimming and the fish-like Pokémon was shining brightly.

"That Feebas… Is it…?" Misaki stammered in disbelief.

"Feebas is evolving!" Greg confirmed.

The three of them watched as the light increased in intensity and the shape of the Pokémon began to change dramatically, growing and elongating before the light finally dissipated in the brightest flash of light that they had seen so far.

"Mi!" the new Pokémon called. It was certainly a sight to behold. It was a serpent-like Pokémon, its' body primarily cream-coloured. It had red eyes with long, pinkish antennae above them and long, hair-like fins above its eyes. A straight spike grew from its' head. Running down either side of its neck were three black dots, similar to gills. Its lower body was had a beautiful pattern that consisted of blue and pink diamond-shaped scales outlined with black that was almost reminiscent of a stained glass window. Its' fan-like tail was made up of four large, blue fins with pink ovals in their centres. Its' scales appeared to change colour as it swam around the large tank, each colour as beautiful as the last.

"Wow! What's that Pokémon?" Tomoko asked as Misaki pointed her Pokédex at it.

** "Milotic, the Tender Pokémon and the evolved form of Feebas. At the first sign of fighting, Milotic will come up from the bottom of its lake habitat to calm any angry feelings."**

"Milotic is a very beautiful Pokémon, is it not?" Greg smiled as the Pokémon swam over to them and extended its' neck over the side of the tank, reaching down to nuzzle Greg's neck.

Misaki stepped forward and touched Milotic's wet, scaly body. However, it felt… pleasant… and warm… The complete opposite of the cold, slimy feeling that she had expected. The shimmering of its' scales up close was certainly a sight to behold. It turned towards her.

"Mi… Milotic…" it smiled, its' voice soft and kind.

"You're beautiful…" Misaki whispered as Tomoko joined her.

Suddenly, a phone could be heard ringing and Greg stepped back, taking his phone out of his shirt pocket. He pressed a button and lifted it up to his ear. It was a few seconds before he said anything as he listened to the person on the other end of the line.

"… Yes, sir," he finally said. "Yes. There's a challenger here… Yes. I'll bring her to the arena immediately. We just stopped because Feebas finally evolved… I know! It's wonderful news! She's looking forward to seeing you. Isn't that right, Milotic?" He reached out to stroke Milotic's head again.

"Mi! Milo!" it responded happily.

"Yes. I'll bring them immediately… Goodbye, sir." Greg hung up and turned to the girls. "Mortimer is aware that you're here. He'd like me to take you to the arena as quickly as possible. He's looking forward to the match," Greg informed them, adjusting his glasses. "Please follow me."

"Bye, Milotic!" the two girls chorused before heading off down the long hallways.

"Mi! Milotic!" the Pokémon smiled behind them before it withdrew into the large tank to take a swim, the water slapping softly against the sides of the glass as it did so.

It wasn't long before they reached a set of doors. Misaki and Tomoko guessed that they led into the arena. Greg walked up to the side of the doors and placed his hand on a panel beside the doors, causing the doors to slide open.

After the initial blinding that came from the bright arena lights passed, they were greeted with a familiar hearty laugh and a lone figure on the arena became apparent as they stepped through the doors, the doors grinding shut beside them.

"Welcome to my Gym, challenger!"


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: First Gym Battle

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

"Welcome to my Gym, challenger!" the Gym Leader – Mortimer – bellowed, his voice cheery as he saw them enter the room. "I trust that you remember me!" he grinned.

Misaki nodded and walked down the stairs towards the arena. Mortimer suddenly frowned and brought a hand up to his chin. He smiled as Misaki took her place on the other side of the arena and removed a Poké Ball from her belt.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I caught your name the last time we met…"

"Oh. Sorry. I'm Misaki from Outsan Village," Misaki told him as she rubbed the back of her head with an embarrassed expression.

"Ah… Outsan… You're from the same place as my last challenger… I believe his name was Fintan…" Mortimer mused.

Misaki nodded. "Yeah… I know him…" she smirked playfully.

"Well, if you have the power that he does, you should do just fine! Without further ado… should we begin, Greg?" the Gym Leader asked as he turned to his referee who, still damp, stood on a platform beside the arena, two flags in his hands. The green flag was in his right hand was for Mortimer and the red one in his left hand was for Misaki. Misaki could see Tomoko sitting in the stands behind him. Greg raised his flags and Mortimer removed a Poké Ball from his belt.

"Very well," Greg nodded. "The battle between the Gym Leader, Mortimer, and the challenger, Misaki from Outsan, is about to begin! Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokémon. Will both Trainers please call out their Pokémon?"

Misaki raised her Poké Ball and threw it. "Come on out, Wingull!" Misaki shouted as the Poké Ball split open with a bright flash of whitish-blue light. The light eventually died down to reveal Wingull who stretched its' wings and let out a cry.

"Wing! Wingull!" it cried with determination.

"Wingull, eh? Let's see how it handles this!" Mortimer threw the Poké Ball. "Go, Staryu!" The Poké Ball burst open to reveal a golden-brown star-like Pokémon. A large, red, jewel-like core shone from the middle of its' body that was surrounded by a golden ring with ridges. A golden ring was looped around its' left leg as if it was there to keep the core in place.

"Staryu…? What's that Pokémon?" Misaki mumbled to herself as she pulled out her Pokédex and pointed it at Staryu. It slid open and began to speak in a robotic, feminine voice.

"**Staryu, the Star Shape Pokémon. The core of this Water Pokémon shines in a rainbow of seven colours, a core that is valued by some as a type of jewellery."**

Greg looked at both Trainers as Misaki put her Pokédex away before nodding again. "Are both sides ready?" he asked.

Misaki nodded. "Ready."

"Begin the match," Mortimer told him.

"Very well. Let the match…" Greg let both of his arms fall. "Begin!"

Mortimer wasted no time. "Staryu, use Tackle!"

"Hya!" Staryu cried out. It leaped into the air and began to spin like a shuriken, heading towards Wingull at a high speed.

"Wingull, use Water Gun!" Misaki ordered.

A powerful stream of water burst forth from Wingull's mouth and struck Staryu, throwing it off course and causing the star-like Pokémon to crash into a wall with a cry of pain. The damaged wall cracked and let off a cloud of dust. Staryu slumped to the ground but was quick to get back up again, shaking itself in an attempt to perk itself up.

"Hya!" it cried as it faced its' opponent.

"Use Supersonic, Wingull!" Misaki commanded.

"Wing… guuuull!" the seagull-like Pokémon shouted, opening its' mouth and let out thin rings of blue sonic waves which hit Staryu before anything could be done. Staryu began to totter about, doing all it could to stop itself from falling over.

"Come on, Staryu! Use Tackle! Aim carefully!" Mortimer shouted.

Staryu did all that it could to stop itself from wobbling. It focused as hard as it could and, within seconds, it was spinning through the air once again. However, about halfway through its' intended course, it appeared to lose its' sense of direction and plummeted to the ground, colliding with it at a high speed.

There was a tense moment where Staryu lay on the ground, but it soon got up again and shook itself off, the confusion having vanished completely. Misaki gritted her teeth and gestured towards her Wingull.

"Use Supersonic again!" she ordered.

"Don't let it! Jump out of the way and use Water Gun!" Mortimer told it.

Just as the sonic waves began to encroach on Staryu, the star-like Pokémon took to the air, spinning quickly as it surpassed Wingull's height in the air before breaking out of its' spin and facing its' opponent.

"Hya!" it cried as it shot a powerful blast of water at its' opponent from the point on top of its' head. Unable to move out of the way, Wingull was hit with the blast and was propelled into the ground at a high speed, kicking up a cloud of dust on impact.

"Get up and get close to it! Then use Water Gun!" Misaki ordered.

"Wingull!" the Pokémon shouted as it neared Staryu, still in mid-air and without any way to escape. Rising above Staryu, Wingull let loose with a stream of water that knocked Staryu to the ground. Misaki wasted no time with another order.

"Use Supersonic!"

Wingull released the sonic waves which hit the prone Pokémon dead on. Staryu stood up and began to totter again. Gesturing towards Wingull, Misaki gave another order, a smile covering her face at the prospect of being so close to winning.

"Finish this with Water Gun!" she grinned.

"Wing… guuuull!" the seagull-like Pokémon shouted as a blast of water was emitted from its' mouth.

"Hya!" Staryu cried out in pain as the high-pressure blast hit it.

When the water cleared and Wingull landed on the ground again, Greg had no choice but to raise his flag. Staryu was lying on the ground, motionless, the core in the centre of its' body flashing slowly, a strange noise sounding with each flash. The light slowly went out.

"Staryu is unable to battle. The winner is Wingull!" Greg announced, the red flag raised.

"Good job, Wingull!" Misaki cheered. She heard Tomoko cheering from the stands as Mortimer recalled Staryu.

"You haven't won yet! Save the cheering for later," Mortimer grinned. "This is my second Pokémon! Go, Binacle!"

The Poké Ball burst open to reveal two Pokémon with hand-like bodies that stuck out from a rugged rock. Their bodies were orange with a white stripe. Their heads were brown with three long claws and they had two round eyes, orange puffy cheeks, orange noses and, as far as Misaki could see, no mouths were visible.

"Binacle…" Misaki mumbled as she took out her Pokédex again.

"**Binacle, the Two-Handed Pokémon. Two Binacle live together on one rock. When they fight, one of them will move to a different rock."**

As Misaki put the Pokédex away, Greg turned to her. "Will the challenger substitute?"

"No thanks. Wingull can keep going," Misaki stated. Wingull may have been tired, but it wasn't as if it couldn't battle. It wasn't too damaged yet. She'd switch out later if need be. _'I probably _will _need to switch out sooner or later… but I'll keep going with Wingull for as long as I need!'_ she thought to herself.

"Alright, then. Let the battle begin!" Greg shouted, bringing down his flags.

"Binacle! Use Shell Smash!" the Gym Leader ordered.

Binacle was quick to comply. Its' body slowly began to glow with a harsh white light. Slowly, cracks began to form on their bodies, crimson light bleeding through as it did so. Suddenly, the white energy broke apart as if it was some sort of shell and the shards began to float around Binacle's body, its' entire body glowing with a bright crimson light.

"Now, use Scratch!"

The Pokémon wordlessly began to use its' two heads to jump across the ground, expanding and contracting in order to pull itself across the ground at an alarming speed – too fast for Misaki and Wingull to react. Just as it reached them, the white shards of light began to coat the claws on Binacle's heads and a powerful attack was delivered, blowing the startled Wingull across the field and into a wall with a terrified squawk, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

As it settled and the crimson light around Binacle died down, Greg watched the unmoving Pokémon for a few seconds before reaching a conclusion. "Wingull is unable to battle. The winner is Binacle!"

Misaki withdrew her Pokémon. "You did great…" she murmured with a smile. She reached for another Poké Ball on her belt, taking it off and enlarging it. "Alright, Seedot! It's up to you!" She threw the Poké Ball and, in a flash of light, the familiar acorn-like Pokémon appeared on the field.

"Seedot! See!" it chirped.

"Very well. Let the battle begin!" Greg's flags fell for the third time.

"Seedot, use Bullet Seed!"

"Use Sand Attack, Binacle!"

Just as Seedot let loose a barrage of hard seeds, Binacle threw up a cloud of sand, obscuring Seedot's vision. However, the attack was already on target and Binacle could be heard crying out in pain as it was knocked to the ground. After a few seconds, the sand began to settle and Binacle could be seen pulling itself upright.

"Binacle! Use Water Gun!" Mortimer ordered.

"Use Harden!" Misaki countered.

Just as the familiar blast of water was shot off, Seedot took a sturdier stance, its' body shining as it hardened. The non-effective attack struck the Grass-type Pokémon, pushing it back slightly but not seriously injuring it.

"Use Scratch, Binacle! Keep going!" Mortimer told it.

"Seedot, use Bide!" Misaki commanded.

Seedot's body began to shimmer as the first of many blows was delivered. It all boiled down to when Bide would fire. If it was too late, this many blows would heavily damage Seedot. If it fired in time, Binacle would be on the receiving end a lot of damage.

Suddenly, Seedot began to shine harshly and the light expanded, colliding with Binacle which was thrown back with a cry of pain. Seedot, however, did not get off without sustaining heavy damage either. It appeared that Harden had barely saved it. It tottered slightly, panting heavily as Binacle pulled itself up with a lot of difficulty.

"This is it, eh? It was a lot quicker than I was hoping," Mortimer grinned.

"It was enjoyable when it lasted…" Misaki smiled. However, her face fell very quickly. "I'm… not a good Trainer… I've never really won a battle before… I need to work harder… I know that… That's why I'm starting here…! This is a battle that I can't afford to lose! I can't waste any time! Seedot! Use Bullet Seed!"

'_I need to catch up with Fintan… I won't lose here!'_ she thought to herself, willing the seeds that Seedot was shooting to hit their mark.

"Use Water Gun, Binacle!" Mortimer ordered.

The two attacks collided in a brilliant spray of water and scattering seeds. However, the strongest attack prevailed, and that attack… had the type advantage. Seedot strained, forcing as much power into the attack as it could and, finally, the attack broke through and knocked Binacle down with a pained cry. The Pokémon collapsed, unmoving as it kicked up a cloud of dust.

There were a few seconds of silence until Greg raised a flag. Tomoko immediately began to applaud. "Binacle is unable to battle. The winner is Seedot. The victory goes to Misaki from Outsan!"

_Later…_

"You did a good job, Misaki! The fact that you've realised that you still have a long way to go is a very valuable thing. Never forget that," Mortimer grinned as he and Greg stood in front of the Gym.

"Ahem…" Greg cleared his throat. "Speaking of forgetting…" He held out a silver tray with a red cloth on it. Upon the cloth lay a small object.

"Ah! Yes! Thank you for reminding me, Greg…" Mortimer chuckled in embarrassment as he took the tray. "Misaki, for all you're hard work, please take the Tidal Badge. You've earned it!"

Misaki reached out and took the small metal object. It fitted neatly in the palm of her hand, the heavy feeling comforting to her somehow as if telling her that she had done well. It was actually rather nice. It certainly lived up to the name Tidal. It was made up of vibrant blues and greens and depicted three crashing waves, each wave peaked with delicately-painted white foam.

"Do well… and…" Mortimer trailed off, his face becoming serious. "… Look after that friend of yours. He looks as if he needs it… Good luck…"

Misaki nodded. _'I can finally go after Fintan… If I'm right, he still hasn't gotten over what he lost on that day. The only thing I can do is… take him to see the person he lost at Phouk Village… Yes! I need to get him to travel with us!'_

"Tomoko! We have to go!" Misaki grinned. Tomoko understood immediately.

"When did you suddenly decide that I was coming with you?!" Tomoko chuckled.

"Since you keep hanging out with me!"

Tomoko sighed and faced the gate that led towards their next destination. "Yeah… Sure… Whatever…"

_Omake…_

"I just got… the Tidal Badge!" Misaki cheered dramatically, striking a pose, her Badge held high in the air.

"Seedot! See!"

"Wing! Wingull!"

Misaki suddenly became aware of everyone staring at her oddly.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a confused expression.

"That was… just wrong…" Tomoko cringed.

"No… Just… No…" Mortimer sighed irritably.

"Just… never do that again…" Greg deadpanned.

"Aww…" Misaki frowned. "Now I feel dumb… Actually, now that I think about it… Yeah… Why would any sane person actually do that…?"

"It appears that you've learned something else that's very important…" Mortimer began, his finger in the air and sage advice on the tip of his tongue. "Never pose dramatically like an idiot!"

"Says the person who forgot to give the winner her Badge…" Greg coughed.

"You're so mean to me, Greg…"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: On the Move

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

"How long are we going to be walking for…?" Tomoko complained as they traversed the rocky forest that would eventually lead them out into Fae Valley.

"Purr…" the disgruntled Purrloin in her arms grumbled in response.

"What are you complaining about?" Tomoko smirked. "You haven't walked once since we left Aquarei."

"You followed Tomoko, anyway," Misaki grinned causing Purrloin to blush and look away.

"Purr…" it grunted in response.

Purrloin honestly looked like it had no idea as to why it did what it did. After seeing Tomoko's Contest battle and Misaki's Gym battle and even fighting with Tomoko, the feline-like Pokémon had decided to stick with the Coordinator and the Pokémon that it had quickly become friends with. When it seemed adamant on following them out of the city, no one argued with it and it immediately jumped up into Tomoko's arms – a place from which it was reluctant to leave throughout the entire journey.

"Hey, Misaki…" Tomoko began. Misaki turned towards her with a confused expression. "… We're lost, aren't we…?"

Misaki sighed and rubbed her stomach. "We've been walking on this path for ages… It's longer than Nurse Joy's map led us to believe… I'm hungry…" As if on cue, her stomach began to grumble.

"We should stop and eat…" Tomoko muttered before rummaging through her black bag, looking for something to eat.

Suddenly, Misaki sniffed the air. "Do you smell that…?" she asked, a frown marring her features.

Both girls stopped in their tracks and Tomoko looked around herself, sniffing the air as she did so. Her eyes narrowed. "… That smells like… burning…?"

The scent was certainly there, but there was no smoke. Not that they could see, anyway. The girls pressed on, curiosity getting the better of them as they passed a large rock in the side of the path and entered a clearing a few moments later.

Misaki's reaction to the ensuing scene was immediate. She pulled a Poké Ball from her belt and threw it. "Come on out, Wingull!" she called as the Poké Ball burst open with a flash of light to reveal the seagull-like Pokémon. "Use Water Gun!" she ordered.

"Wing… guuuull!" the Pokémon cried out immediately as it shot a powerful stream of water at the fire in front of them. With the fire put out, the two girls walked forwards to survey the damage which consisted of one rather blackened pot.

"What idiot just leaves their food over a fire and walks away?" Tomoko asked, thoroughly mystified by the apparent stupidity of whoever had done such a thing.

"I didn't leave it!" a masculine voice suddenly called out from nearby.

Turning towards the voice, the girls could see a young man of about their age clinging desperately to a low-hanging tree branch. His mop of grey hair hung around the sides of his face and his stone grey eyes never once looked away from the ground as he eyed it warily. He wore a black somewhat-baggy jacket and trousers and his trainers were white and black.

"What are you doing up there?" Misaki called out.

"Oh, you know… Just escaping that raging fire! Now, help me down!" he cried out, gripping the branch even tighter.

"Don't worry!" Tomoko smiled reassuringly.

"It's low-hanging!" Misaki grinned.

The boy turned to something up in the trees. "How far is it?" he asked. A voice quickly answered.

"Hon! Hon!" it responded.

"OK…! I'll trust you…!" he gulped before pulling himself into a sitting position and, after hesitating for a few seconds, he closed his eyes and jumped off the branch with a yelp… before landing safely on the ground on his feet. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and sighed. "See…? Nothing to worry about…!" he laughed nervously.

Misaki and Tomoko weren't particularly sure about what to say. The boy in front of them was obviously something of a coward. Of course, they would never say that out loud… That would be insensitive!

However, they didn't have to say anything as whatever he had been talking to that had previously been up in the trees had floated down to the ground and the girls were able to get a good look at it. It appeared to be a sharp-looking, intricately-designed sword-like creature with a blue jewel-like eye that was set into its' hilt. A dark blue and light blue cloth with a swirl pattern hung from its' pommel, the end of which was split into four pieces.

"What's that Pokémon?" Tomoko asked as Misaki removed her Pokédex from her pocket and pointed it at the mysterious Pokémon. The Pokédex began to speak in a robotic, feminine voice.

** "Honedge, the Sword Pokémon. If anyone dares to grab its hilt, it wraps a blue cloth around that person's arm and drains that person's life energy completely."**

"Honedge is my partner…" the boy explained as Honedge floated over to him. "We're travelling around the region to get stronger…"

"Well, it's nice to meet you both," Tomoko smiled. "I'm Tomoko and these are my Pokémon, Solosis and Purrloin."

"I'm Misaki and these are Seedot and Wingull," she grinned as she introduced herself and her Pokémon.

"I'm Mason…" he smiled nervously and held out his hand.

_Elsewhere…_

"The Pokémon don't matter. What's done is done. Leave it be," a young man's voice grunted as he stared out the partially-opened Venetian blinds which let strips of light filter into the otherwise dark room. The man frowned as someone stepped up behind him, a thud sounding as someone slammed their hands onto his mahogany desk.

"With all due respect, sir, we can't just let this go! We were defeated by children!" a man shouted in something akin to desperation as he stared at the shadowed back of his leader. The woman beside him stepped forwards and wrapped her arm around the man's arm in an attempt to hold him back.

"You heard what our leader said, Chad… What's done is done…" she spoke softly. Chad suddenly turned on her, throwing her away. She stumbled backwards slightly, but managed to remain upright.

"If you can't understand, stay out of this, Blair! Those children walked all over the pride of Team Gene! I can't just let them do that!" he bellowed.

The man on the other side of the desk slowly turned around and sat down at his desk, his large swivel chair creaking slightly as he did so. He was rather young for his position, but he was nothing short of a genius as the many people of his organisation had seen by then. He had a mop of black hair that carefully framed his pale face and piercing yellow eyes. He wore a similar uniform to the people who stood before him, but his uniform was a lot more tight-fitting with gold trimming and he also wore a short, black hoodless mantle with gold trimming over the top of his uniform. A black peaked hat rested on his desk, the sun glinting off the DNA-shaped badge on the front.

The young man interlocked his fingers in front of his face and stared at Chad, looking into his eyes as his subordinate turned around, his gaze looking horribly detached from the current situation. "If you want to go, I won't stop you…" he stated, his voice quiet and vaguely uncaring.

Chad's expression quickly became elated and he quickly leaned over in a bow of gratitude. "Thank you, sir! I won't let you down, sir! I will restore Team Gene's pride!"

"Very well… Leave…" The man gestured towards the door and his two subordinates were quick to let themselves out, shutting the heavy wooden door with a quiet click behind them as they did so.

The man sighed and took a look around his mostly-empty office, noting the green desk lamp and the opened black laptop that sat upon his desk, the dark grey, rough carpets, the white walls and the light that came through the blinds that shone in bright strips across the walls.

Suddenly, his laptop began to beep and he pulled it over so that it was directly in front of him before pressing the enter button. The face of one of his subordinates popped up on the screen. Upon seeing him, the man immediately saluted.

"Sir!" he began. "We avoided the Guardian and captured the targets. We're returning to the base!"

"Very good. Deliver the targets to me upon your arrival there…" the leader nodded.

"Yes, sir!" The man's image disappeared.

With another heavy sigh, the leader stood up again and walked over to the window, staring out at the setting sun once more as he did so. He narrowed his eyes as he stared out at the beautiful scene that unfurled before him day after day with the orange sun beautifully illuminating the powerful mountains and sprawling countryside. Far below him, the Pidgey, Spearow, Pidove and Starly were returning to their nests and the Tauros, Bouffalant and Stantler were having one final graze before heading off to bed as soon as the sun fully set. The Patrat, Pachirisu, Dedenne, Rattata and Bidoof would all be scampering back to their nests and burrows in the ground and in the hollow trees with whatever food they had to store.

"Such beauty…" the man smiled sadly. "Yet… so corrupt… Yet, with this power, I will begin again in a world that is even more beautiful than the last… With this power… it will become mine… No one matters… Nothing matters… The only things that matter…" He paused and narrowed his eyes. "The only things that matter… are the results…"

_Meanwhile…_

"It's all well and good that you got permission for this, but what do we do now?" Blair asked as she walked down the hall with Chad at her side. Yet, there was a notable distance between the two as they walked with Blair still reeling slightly from the shock of his reaction.

"We have to find them first. We'll train while we look for them. We have to be stronger when we fight them. We'll catch some more Pokémon on the way. When we're ready, we'll set a trap and we'll take their Pokémon by force if we need to," Chad mused, his arms folded in front of him as he thought.

"What kind of trap?" Blair inquired.

"It doesn't matter. As long as it catches those kids, it's good enough. We'll take their Pokémon and they won't be able to mess with Team Gene anymore," Chad responded.

Blair frowned. Chad wasn't thinking this through clearly. That much was blatantly obvious. Not only that, but the entire incident in the office seemed to have been lost on him. It was almost as though, in his mind, the incident had never happened, having been overshadowed by his duties to the team, something that always shone so much more brightly in his mind than anything else.

She couldn't understand it. She had known Chad for years – long before they ever joined Team Gene. He wasn't like this back then. While she didn't suspect that it was the team itself that was causing him to change so much, it was certainly something to do with his mentality towards the team.

Blair didn't think that there was anyone in all of Team Gene with as much pride in the team and, to be brutally honest, it scared her. It scared her a lot. He wasn't always like that and the change in him was so drastic that Blair often felt that she barely knew her best friend anymore. She didn't like that. Not one bit.

"Um… Chad… About what happened earlier…" she began, her voice quiet.

He didn't even stop to look at her. He simply increased his pace, an expression of enlightenment descending on him as if he had just had a great idea. Blair stopped in the hallway, staring after him as he quickly walked on ahead before rounding the corner. A sad expression marred her features and, deciding that there was nothing that she could do, – at least, not then, anyway – she quickened her pace and followed him.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Fae Valley

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

"Thanks for putting out that fire…" Mason sighed in relief as he, the girls and their Pokémon sat around a fire.

Tomoko was busying herself with making food over the small fire in the clearing. She had laid out some shallow bowls on the grass and was busy stirring together some ingredients in a small pot. What she was making wouldn't be much, but it would be enough to do all of them. Internally, she contemplated buying a bigger bag and pot so that she could make more.

"How did that fire start, anyway?" Misaki asked curiously.

Mason looked away sheepishly, one hand rubbing the back of his head and a blush of embarrassment spreading across his cheeks. "I… Uh…" He began to sweat slightly. "I… was cooking lunch and… I'm not a good cook, OK…?!"

Misaki let out something akin to a giggle (but she'd never admit to that). Tomoko interrupted them, however, as she lifted up each bowl and filled it with something that looked like stew, her ladle clinking against the dishes as she did so.

"Well, we don't have to worry about that, now," Tomoko smiled slightly as she handed the other two their bowls before digging around in her bag again, producing a few plastic bowls and some Pokémon food when she was done. Soon, everyone was eating happily.

"This is really good!" Mason grinned as he shoved another spoonful in his mouth.

Misaki had to agree. Sure, it wasn't professional, but it was comforting and filling. It was just what they needed. "Good job!" Misaki smirked through a mouthful of the stew. "To think I thought that you were just useless!" she teased.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Tomoko told her bluntly.

Instead of saying anything more to the raven-haired girl, Misaki simply turned away and picked up another conversation with Mason. "So, where are you travelling to, Mason?" she asked.

Swallowing a mouthful of stew, Mason spoke up. "I'm just travelling the region to get stronger. I'm heading towards Mt. Sprite in the Fae Valley," he informed them. "I've heard that there's a rare Pokémon who lives amongst the Fairy-types there."

"A rare Pokémon?!" Misaki exclaimed excitedly.

Mason nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. Apparently, it's something you have to see for yourself. No one has managed to catch it yet."

"I'd love to see it…" Tomoko sighed, daydreaming about what kind of creature the Pokémon could be.

"They say that you have to see if for yourself to believe it. It lives in some kind of shrine. I think that it's called…" he paused to think for a few seconds. "I think it's the Pixie Shrine or something similar to that…"

"There are shrines and things like that right throughout the region," Tomoko remembered.

Misaki nodded. "There was one right outside my village, if I remember correctly. I didn't go to see it. It was just some old shrine. There were no legends about it. Not that I remember, anyway."

"Most people have forgotten what they're for. That's what my village elder always said," Tomoko stated.

"Did the elder know what it was for?" Mason asked.

Tomoko shook her head. "I don't know. There was a riddle or rhyme about it that she told us, but I can't remember it anymore. I heard it a long time ago and could never figure it out. She couldn't figure it out either."

"It might be worth paying it a visit, anyway," Misaki reasoned.

"True. We could end up seeing a powerful Pokémon," Tomoko nodded.

"You're both coming?" Mason inquired as he placed the empty bowl onto the ground. Misaki and Tomoko soon did the same. With no water source to wash the dishes, Tomoko pulled a bottle of water and a cloth from her bag and got to work with cleaning the dishes.

"Why not? We're all heading in the same direction, anyway. I have a Gym battle there," Misaki informed him.

"I have to travel through there to get to my next Contest as well," Tomoko told him.

"So, we're all going in the same direction, then…" Mason muttered.

"Is there a problem with that?" Misaki asked with a frown.

"No! Not at all!" Mason responded quickly.

"Darn it… It looks like rain…" Tomoko suddenly stated as she packed away their belongings and stared up at the sky. "We'd better hurry up and get moving…"

"It shouldn't be too much further," Mason commented. "We're quite far along the path now. Once we get into Fae Valley there'll be no shelter from the rain, though."

"We should hurry up, then!" Misaki grinned. The three stood up and, with the remainder of the bottle of water, Tomoko quickly extinguished the fire and they were soon on their way, their Pokémon back in their Poké Balls.

_Later…_

They had reached the valley by the time the heavy rain began and, therefore, they had no time to take in what was going on around them as they splashed through the muddy path that ran through the centre of the mountains on either side of them that created the valley. It wasn't long before a perceptive Mason pointed towards something that lay not far up the mountain.

"Up there! I think that's the entrance to Mt. Sprite!" Mason shouted over the noise of the rain.

"We should wait up there until the rain stops!" Before those words had even left Tomoko's mouth, Misaki and Mason were already making their way up the mountain, the promise of a dry place to rest spurring them on. Tomoko was quick to follow.

Once inside, they all looked around the cave which snaked away deep into the mountain, growing darker and darker as it went along until none of them could see any further. Mason was quick to pull a torch from his bag and, turning it on, he pointed it down the tunnel that seemed to be sloping upwards, although not sharply.

"It looks fairly straight…" he commented as he shone the light around the walls. "It doesn't look like it branches… Not here, anyway…"

However, as he shone it around, his torch soon fell on something that hid behind a large rock. Whatever it was glinted in the light like polished glass before quickly disappearing, realising that it had been spotted. Whatever it was, it was a Pokémon.

There was silence for a few moments as they all looked at each other, willing the other to say or do something or even inform the other about what it was that they had just seen until Tomoko finally spoke up. "There's no point in just standing here," she reasoned. "The rain won't stop anytime soon…"

Misaki nodded. "It couldn't do any harm if we take a look."

"OK… Just… Just one thing, though…" Mason began. The two girls turned to look at him, noticing that he was somewhat shivering from the cold. "… Don't go too far away from me while we're walking, OK…?"

Tomoko cringed. "He can't be…"

"He is…" Misaki sighed as the realisation dawned on her. He wasn't cold…

"You're afraid of the dark, aren't you…?" Tomoko asked, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.

"I'm not afraid of the dark!" Mason quickly retorted. He began to blush sheepishly and looked away, pouting slightly. "… I'm afraid of what's _in_ the dark… That's perfectly reasonable…"

"… Let's leave him…" Misaki smirked.

With a howl of laughter, the two girls began to head off into the cave. Glancing back at the cave entrance and at what he perceived to be safety, Mason let out a whimper and ran after the two girls who were already quite far down the tunnel by the time he had willed his legs to move.

"D-don't leave without me…!" he called and, still shivering.

_Later…_

"We haven't seen a single Pokémon…" Misaki complained.

"That's true…" Mason responded, trying to take his mind off of the darkness that surrounded him. "I was hoping to see that Pokémon that we first saw when we came in here…"

"What was that, anyway…?" Tomoko inquired.

"If we knew, we'd have said something by now…" Misaki grunted.

"Well, you don't need to be so blunt…" Tomoko pouted.

"We should be near the shrine by now, shouldn't we?" Mason asked, a frown marring his features as he did so.

"We've been walking for quite a while. There haven't been any twists or turns so far, so we can't have missed anything…" Tomoko mused.

"How far up does this path go?" Misaki quizzed.

"We should be nearly there by now, I think," Mason commented, shining his torch around the walls. "It's so dark…"

"Don't wimp out on us…" Tomoko smirked.

"Shut it…" Mason muttered in annoyance.

Misaki suddenly pointed at the path ahead, something catching her eye. Everyone turned to have a look, their eyes falling on something small and shiny that hovered behind a rock. Mason immediately pointed his torch at it to get a better look, causing the creature to shy away.

Misaki immediately took a few steps forward, straining to get a better look. "It's OK!" she called. "Don't run away!"

Mason and Tomoko stood back as she walked forward, not wishing to scare the Pokémon any further. Misaki turned the corner and looked behind the rock. Her eyes went wide with wonder as she viewed the tiny Pokémon that cowered in the corner. It was small and rock-like with bluish crystals that were embedded all over its' body. Wide blue eyes stared at her from behind what appeared to be a fluffy white collar that was wound around its' neck and it had large, flat ears.

"It's OK…" Misaki whispered as she held out her hands, bidding the small Pokémon to come closer. "I won't hurt you…"

"Car…" it whimpered.

"… What are you, anyway…?" Misaki smiled as she pulled out her Pokédex which slid open and began to speak in a feminine voice.

"**Carbink, the Jewel Pokémon. Born from temperatures and pressures deep underground, it fires beams from the stone in its head."**

"Carbink, eh? You're cute!" Misaki cheered as the small Pokémon slowly began to inch closer. It nudged her hand slowly and she reached up to pet its' rugged surface, her hand eventually falling on the fluffy collar around its' neck. "So soft…" she smiled with a contented sigh. "Do you live here, Carbink?"

"Car…" it responded slowly and hesitantly.

"Hey! I have some people for you to meet!" Misaki suddenly exclaimed. She spun around, and shouted towards Tomoko and Mason. "Hey! Come over here and see this!"

"Car… CARBINK!" Carbink suddenly shouted loudly, fleeing from the loud noise.

To the shock of all present, the cave suddenly began to rumble. Rocks fell from the ceiling and dirt crumbled from the walls until, finally, the tunnel caved in with a massive crash, cutting Misaki off from Tomoko and Mason.

Misaki immediately made a break for the wall and began to dig. She couldn't hear anything on the other side and that only served to make her panic that much more. "Tomoko! Mason!" she shouted, internally begging for someone to hear her.

Suddenly, to Misaki's surprise, a soft, pinkish glow suddenly lit up the tunnel. The light shifted a little as whatever was behind her took a look around and an echoing voice eventually spoke up behind her, the tone kind and filled with concern.

"Oh, dear… What happened…?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: The Ancient

_Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon._

_POKÉMON_

"Oh, dear… What happened…?" the echoing voice behind Misaki asked, its feminine voice not without a hint of worry and confusion. "Oh!" she suddenly exclaimed. "A human!"

'_A human?'_ Misaki thought to herself. _'In that case, whatever's behind me isn't human, but… Pokémon can't talk!'_

"I sincerely apologise for my Carbink's reaction! They aren't used to human contact!" the kind voice squeaked.

Drawing in a deep breath to stir up her courage, Misaki slowly turned around to meet the Pokémon which was in the middle of performing a deep, sincere bow of apology. Misaki sucked in another breath. The Pokémon in front of her was truly breathtaking.

The Pokémon was a grey, sylph-like Pokémon with a white chest and arms that resembled a dress. She wore something akin to a headdress that was made out of beautiful pink crystals and had a larger crystal that was set in between her grey ears. A smaller pink crystal was also embedded in the back of her head and a gold nugget was embedded in her forehead.

Her eyes were red with pink irises and gold crescent lay around her neck, the ends of which were joined together by a large pink gem in something akin to a necklace in appearance. Her lower body was similar to a chunk of stone with a large pink crystal that was embedded in it. A soft pink light emitted from the crystals that were a part of her body, lighting up the once-dark cave.

She straightened up, exiting her bow. "I am Diancie," she told Misaki. "I am the princess of these Carbink and the protector of Fae Valley."

"Y-you must be the Legendary Pokémon…" Misaki stammered in awe, unable to fully comprehend what she was seeing or hearing, barely noticing that Diancie's mouth was not moving as she spoke.

Diancie, however, cocked her head to one side, thoroughly confused. "Legendary Pokémon?" she asked. "What's that?"

"W-well…" Misaki paused, thinking about how to word her response. "… A Legendary Pokémon is a really rare and powerful Pokémon…"

"Oh! You must mean the Ancients! Yes! I am an Ancient!" the Legendary Pokémon chimed.

"An Ancient?" Misaki inquired, confused by the terminology.

"Yes!" Diancie nodded. "We are few in number… That is true… But, we must be what you humans refer to as 'Legendary.' We are not legendary! We exist, do we not?" the Pokémon laughed cheerfully.

"I… I see…" Misaki responded dumbly. A thought was still running rampant in her mind and it refused to be silent until questions were answered.

Diancie saw the hesitation and confliction in Misaki's features and ventured forward slightly. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

Misaki sighed and put her question forward. "Well… it's just that… you're a Pokémon…! How… How can you talk…?"

"Oh… That…" Diancie pondered. "You humans have a word for it… Oh, I heard it once…!" she grumbled. "Te… Te… Tele… pathy…? Was that it?" she finally muttered, butchering the pronunciation of the word in the process.

"… Telepathy?" Misaki offered.

Diancie pointed at her. "That's the one!" she confirmed. She suddenly paused as she noticed that Misaki was almost constantly glancing at the wall behind her. "Don't worry! The humans will come along soon to repair the tunnel! You may come and go as you wish after that! I the meantime, please come this way while we wait!"

Diancie floated off with a bright smile without another word. As she glided along, her jewels lit up the cave with a soft glow, illuminating one area while casting another into darkness as it did so. Misaki witnessed her beginning to float down a large set of stairs which had been illuminated by the gentle pink light.

Diancie paused at the top of the stairs and gestured for her to follow. In the face of a powerful Legendary Pokémon such as Diancie, Misaki was quick to comply and hurried after her without a second thought.

_Meanwhile…_

"Misaki!" Tomoko bellowed as she frantically attempted to shift the rock.

"Tomoko!" Mason grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her away, but she slipped from his grasp and began to dig at the rocks again. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, whirling her around to face him. "It isn't going to work, Tomoko!"

"Then, what do you suggest that we do?!" the frantic girl snapped, beside herself with worry.

Mason took a deep breath and attempted to speak without allowing his voice to stutter as his confidence slowly began to fail him. "We won't be able to shift this on our own. Not even with our Pokémon. There's simply too much. We should go to the town and seek help from Officer Jenny," he suggested, trying his best to stay calm in light of the current situation.

"But… that would mean leaving Misaki all alone…" Tomoko looked at the wall of rock longingly, only turning away from it when Mason placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"She isn't alone. She has Seedot and Wingull with her. One thing's for certain, though. Staying here isn't going to do her any good. We need help and the only place that we can get that is Faeria Town. We have to go…" He trailed off as he waited for Tomoko's response.

Turning to stare at the wall of rock again, confliction and desperation shining in her eyes, she eventually simply responded with a quiet nod. Without another word, Mason reached out and took her arm, before slowly leading her down the rocky tunnel, out of the cave and into the heavy rain, thunder and lightning, at which point, they began to run, not daring to look back for fear of losing their courage to leave their friend trapped in the cave.

_Meanwhile…_

Misaki felt like she had been descending the stairs for much longer than she really was. Neither she nor Diancie had spoken since they had begun their long descent into the deep darkness of the mountain.

'_Who goes up just to go down again?'_ Misaki asked herself as she remembered the slant that the winding tunnel had been at. They must have been rather far up the mountain by the time that they had reached these stairs.

Straining herself slightly, she leaned over in an attempt to get a better look at the Pokémon in front of her, her thoughts pausing when she sighted the expression on Diancie's face. She frowned and leaned forwards to get a better look.

'_Diancie… looks troubled…'_ Misaki noted as she saw the deep frown on Diancie's face, her eyes slightly distant as if she was lost in thought.

Suddenly, Diancie looked back and saw Misaki staring at her. She turned and smiled, continuing to float down the stairs backwards. "Are you OK?" she asked. "Is something the matter?"

Misaki jumped as the Pokémon addressed her. "Um… It's nothing… But… Where are we going?"

"Oh!" Diancie blushed in embarrassment. "I forgot to tell you! We're going to my room."

"Y-your room…? But… you're a princess… Is it really OK for me to go into your room…?" Misaki hurriedly inquired, not wishing to appear intrusive in front of such a powerful Pokémon.

"Nonsense!" Diancie leaned forward and began to whisper as if she was divulging some great secret. "Just between you and me, I haven't met a human girl in centuries!" She sighed sadly. "Whenever anyone comes along, the Carbink tend to drive them away… I'm grateful for their protection… but I wish to meet others and become friendly with them… The Carbink are too afraid to approach me in such a manner…"

"So… what changed today?" Misaki asked. "I mean, if they always chase the humans away, why didn't they do it with us?"

"That…" she hesitated, almost as if she was afraid of Misaki's reaction. "That is something that I wish to ask you about when we reach my room…"

"But, why would you ask me? I don't know…" Misaki responded with a frown.

"Well… it's more like I'm going to tell you something and then you'll be able to answer my question… I just don't want to ask about it here… I want it to be somewhere more… private, I suppose…" She laughed nervously.

Misaki nodded dumbly, not entirely sure about how she could respond to that. Diancie turned around and continued to glide down the staircase once she was absolutely certain that the conversation had ended. Staring down at the floor, Misaki focused her attentions on not tripping on the steep, dimly lit stone staircase.

_Meanwhile…_

It had taken them a good half hour of running at full speed in the pouring rain and raging wind as the lightning flashed angrily above them and the thunder rumbled mercilessly, but they had finally made their way across the now-muddy and slippery valley and into the town. Looking around, the streets weren't empty as they had once presumed that they would have been. In fact, many people were out with their umbrellas, going about their daily business.

"Um… Excuse us, sir!" Tomoko asked an umbrella-carrying man who was travelling down the street.

The man – a greying, wrinkled man who must have been in his 70's who wore a pair of wire-framed glasses, a brown tweed jacket, a white shirt, brown trousers and black shoes – turned around, smiling at them, his eyes twinkling kindly. He held out his large dark brown umbrella slightly so that the two children could climb underneath it.

"Can I help you, kids?" he asked, his smile never faltering.

"I'm sorry, but we're looking for directions to the police station," Mason told him.

"There's been a bad cave-in in Mt. Sprite," Tomoko added.

"Oh, dear… Not again…" the man sighed. "It's those Carbink… They don't mean to, but…" He paused and looked back at them. "I'm afraid that there is no police station in this town."

"But…!" Tomoko was about to protest when the elderly gentleman cut her off.

"This is one of the few towns where we don't have a police station. This town is more in tune with nature than the other towns. Therefore, we rely on the Pokémon Rangers. They may be able to help you. They've done so in the past." The man pointed down the street. "If you walk down this street, take the second right and keep walking, you'll find the Ranger Base in no time. It has the Pokémon Ranger logo on it. It's a blue oval with a white circle in it and two lines across the middle, both vertically and horizontally, with a blue triangle underneath it. I think that it's supposed to be their Capture Disc…" he trailed off before shaking his head. "Either way, you can't miss it!"

"Thank you, sir!" Tomoko called back to him as they began to run down the street with their new information. The elderly man gave a wave as they headed down the street and rounded the corner, disappearing from his gaze.

"Hey, Tomoko?" Mason attempted to get her attention as they headed down the street. "What's a Pokémon Ranger?"

"Um… Well, they aren't common. They're a bit like Pokémon Trainers, but they don't catch Pokémon. They take care of the environment alongside wild Pokémon and help people and Pokémon with their problems. That's what I heard, anyway," Tomoko frowned, trying to make sense of what little information she knew.

"To be honest, I've never heard of them," Mason told her.

"I'm not surprised. I think that there are only two Ranger Bases in the entire region and the other is on the rough side of Mt. Rime," Tomoko informed him.

"Why would they put it there?" Mason asked.

"Well, I live up around there. There are always hikers and Pokémon getting trapped or injured on that side of the mountain, so the Ranger Base is on the side of the mountain with the most trouble," Tomoko explained.

Mason nodded his head, satisfied with the answer. While a clear picture had not been painted in his head, he would find out what they did when he met them which would be very soon if the building that they were running towards was any indication.

It was a tall, white, dome-like building with a glass roof and a set of automatic glass doors. Rain poured down the sides of the building, dripping off a small indent above the two double doors where the logo that had been described to them earlier was emblazoned on the building.

"This must be it," Mason decided, speaking loudly to be heard over the roar of the torrential rain.

"There's no point in standing out here in the rain. We should go inside and ask for their help," Tomoko nodded. Stepping forward, they both walked inside, the automatic doors silently opening as if they were permitting them to enter. They shut behind them, shielding them from the rain.

The two looked around, searching for some kind of help desk or for a Ranger to help them. The room appeared to be some kind of waiting room, supposedly where one could ask a Ranger for help and wait for a response regarding their request. The walls were white, just like the outside of the building and the floor was covered with a soft, jade green carpet. Leafy potted plants dotted the room, either standing in the corners or appearing in terracotta plant pots on the glass tables which were surrounded by wooden chairs with green padding. A wooden help desk with a dark pink countertop and the Ranger logo emblazoned on the front of it stood unoccupied in the corner, its operator missing.

Mason suddenly nudged Tomoko and pointed towards the corner of the room where a young woman with cherry blossom pink hair appeared to be reading some kind of report as she leaned against the wall of the base, paying attention to nothing around her as she read.

A white creature sat on the floor next to the woman, its chest rising and falling as it breathed softly, deep in a state of sleep. To be honest, it reminded Tomoko of candy floss. It was a small, fluffy white Pokémon with two pink earlike spots on the top of its head. It had a small pink nose in between its two eyes which had pink sclera and a white pupil. The lower half of its body was light pink and its tail was pink with what appeared to be some white near the base of it. Its pink tongue stuck out of its fur-covered mouth. Its tiny feet which poked out from underneath its fur were a light shade of pink.

"Um… Excuse us…" Tomoko asked nervously as she approached the woman who suddenly looked up.

"Oh! Sorry! I didn't see you there!" she laughed, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment at being caught off guard. She held out her hand. "I'm Ichigo and this is Swirlix." She gestured towards the sleeping Pokémon on the floor. "Do you need any help?" she asked with a smile.

Standing up close to her, Mason and Tomoko were able to make out more of her features. Her skin was pale, yet not unhealthy, and she had a tiny mole just below her left eye. A white hairband sat in her long hair, keeping it in place. Her eyes were dark pink and she appeared to be wearing some kind of uniform. It consisted of a red midriff-revealing, short-sleeved jacket with a yellow trim, a white undershirt and black shorts with a yellow trim with a yellow belt to keep them up. She also wore white socks and black trainers with a yellow toe cap and sides, white laces and a thick yellow Velcro strap across the top.

"I'm Tomoko and this is Mason," Tomoko introduced both of them in a hurry to put their request forward. "There's been a cave-in in Mt. Sprite. One of our friends and her Pokémon are trapped in there…" She trailed off, a million thoughts running through her mind, each worse than the last as the Ranger's eyes went wide, the sudden realisation of the situation hitting her.

"Is it a large cave-in?" Ichigo asked. They both nodded dumbly and watched as she brought a hand up to her chin in thought. She eventually sighed. "Stay here…" she told them with a serious expression before muttering, "I'll need the help of the other Rangers for this…"


End file.
